The cost of living crisis is turning soldiers away from Nova Scotia, provincial politicians were told.
The Nova Scotia legislature’s veterans affairs committee heard from veterans and military families at a meeting this week dedicated to the rising cost of living.
“People are turning down postings to Halifax,” said Erica Fleck, the director of emergency management for Halifax Regional Municipality. Fleck said she has “worn a green uniform for 38 years” and her husband and youngest son serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The committee of provincial members of the Nova Scotia legislature heard from representatives of non-profit organizations and various branches of municipal and provincial government.
Witnesses from the Department of Community Services, Department of Intergovernmental Affairs, Emergency Management Office, Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre, and the Royal Canadian Legion-NS/NU Command spoke at the hearing.
Fleck, whose last position in the military was in recruitment and retention, said soldiers are being released from service because of high housing prices and the lack of availability of family doctors and other medical services.
Last April, the Department of National Defence reported the Canadian Armed Forces were facing a shortage of 16,000 members.
“We have active serving regular force members who are still couch surfing that were posted here in the summer,” she said. “They are regularly going to food banks.”
Fleck said she had sent more people to social services like Op Dasher, a program run by the resource centre for Halifax military families than she has in 38 years.
“People are trying their best because they have no choice but to show up for work,” she said.
Many have to live outside the Halifax and HRM area to find affordable housing and make it work.
“Young soldiers are coming to work hungry, and leaders are trying to feed them the best they can using their money.”
According to Fleck, There are 40 veterans completely without a home in Halifax and hundreds of veterans are precariously housed.
Fleck advocates for preferential treatment for veterans and current service members seeking affordable housing. She thinks if veterans are treated as a priority in government housing programs, it will help alleviate the issue.
“It’s heartbreaking these are the people whose primary job it is to defend our country, and they can’t afford to live here,” she said.
Nova Scotia legion executive director Craig Hood, who recently retired from the military after more than 33 years of service, said “new and creative ways” to support soldiers and veterans are needed.
The Royal Canadian Legion often responds to the needs of veterans and their families through “benevolence.”
Benevolent funds are tax deductible for donors and are distributed by the organization itself.
“Over the last couple of years, we have seen a rise in the use of our benevolent funds to a point where I’m starting to look at creative ways to obtain more funds to support those veterans,” Hood said.
When Hood was appointed to speak at the committee, he did a “deep dive” on this topic and came across what he said was “some startling information.”
He found active duty members of Canadian Armed Forces posted in Halifax “living rough” in tents, out of their vehicles, couch surfing, and sometimes engaging in interpersonal relationships for the purposes of securing housing, “which often at times makes them victims of domestic violence.”
It wasn’t always like this when Fleck first joined the military, and biggest support was having military housing.
“When you got to a new place, that military housing was available,” she said. “Not only is there something there that you know you can rely on, but you also have that built-in sense of community.”
This is no longer the case, she said.
“There are a few housing locations left in Shearwater and a few in Halifax.”
According to Hood, when the Canadian Forces Housing Agency took on the housing for the military 25 years ago, the treasury board mandated that the quantity of housing be cut in half at least.
“At that time, it made sense because the housing market was very good. It was very robust, and more military members were living on the economy than in (designated military housing),” he said.
After the pandemic, this is no longer the case, and more soldiers are seeking military housing.
“The wait list that we’re seeing is approximately 65 (families) for the Halifax Shearwater area, and 20 for Greenwood area, and those are the two primary areas,” Hood said. “That’s overall 85 families that are waiting for accommodations.”
He said the primary function of any military force should be operational capability, the ability to pack up, move and fight wherever they are needed at a moment’s notice.
“A military cannot be worried about where their families are going to be living and what they are going to be doing when they leave,” he said. “When there’s more questions than answers people will go elsewhere.”
