Veterans Affairs Committee on March 6th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

That's very blunt of you, Mr. Perron. Thank you.

Mr. Valley, for the Liberal Party.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Thank you. I will speak in favour of the motion. I think there's a lot to be learned. If we've learned anything in our four visits to the cities, it's that these people are very anxious to talk to us. I think what we learn would be important. It costs money, but to be very blunt, we just authorized travel of $118,000 that was not used. It was a waste of money to support a motion from the other side that did not happen for reasons we know are beyond this room. We can do that. I think there's a lot to learn. I've said before we spoke about Afghanistan that we needed to be there to see the people who are on the ground. That was accepted. The committee makes its own decisions. Travel was thwarted for a number of reasons.

I have a question for you, Mr. Chair. The committee has a budget. Off the top of my head, I don't know exactly what it is. I don't care to know the number; I just want to know if this is dictated by the committee when they spend their money through Liaison.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Just so everybody is apprised of how this works, what happens is there's a global budget for all the committees, and if memory serves me correctly, it's around $5 million, $4.5 million, in that area. What happens is it's a very restricted budget, in the sense that it's allowed with regard to our clerk, our researcher, beverages we have provided to us for committee meetings, the odd meals, and travel expenses for witnesses, etc. That's all standard, and you have to do a lot to initiate that. We do that at the beginning when we establish the committees.

Then when you want to travel you always go before Liaison, and that's where you have the chairs of all the various committees sit down and in a sense peer review and decide whether or not they're going to give you the money. That collective group of all the chairs holds that bag of around $5 million and they determine whether the travel is a go or not. I'm not going to cast any partisan aspersions, but in some years that money is spent pretty much right to the max, and there are other years--and this would be one of those times--when it's not.

There's not as much travel in this particular session as there has been sometimes in the past. That probably has more to do with a minority government as opposed to a majority government. As you can well imagine, it's easier to travel in a majority government than in a minority government. We all know that all too well.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

No, we don't. I've only served in a minority.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Really?

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Really.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Oh my, let me tell you, it's a lot easier.

I hope that explains how that works.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

For the record, I would say I totally disagree with my good friend Gilles and anyone who says they're not our responsibility. I think silos that have been built in the past by any department, any government agency, are part of the problem. I think they're our responsibility. Where and when we talk to them is the committee's decision, but I just wanted to say that for the record.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay, fair enough.

Mr. Stoffer.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

I was going to wait until the end, but I wanted to clarify for Mrs. Hinton and Mr. Perron that the people we spoke to, the soldiers we spoke to on the bases we went to, suggested it. I didn't come up with this myself; they suggested it. It's not a question of our seeing the soldiers, because if the argument is that the soldiers are going through a period of reflection and assistance and politicians are the last thing they want to see, that's a good point. No politician should ever be going to the base in Kandahar, because the last thing they need is to see politicians while they're technically in a war zone.

The only reason I brought this motion forward is that the soldiers themselves suggested it. The gentleman in Goose Bay whom Mr. Perron talks about, whom apparently we've invited, was very adamant that we go to Cyprus and see it. So that's why I brought it forward.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

I understand.

Oh, I see Mr. Perron wishes to speak to the motion again.

[Gilles-A. Perron, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

We have to put things in perspective, and see them as they happen and as they are. I was and am still in favour of going to visit the local bases before the soldiers leave on missions, regardless of where they are going. My objective is to be able to advance a cause I hold dear, which is to provide soldiers with more information about post-traumatic stress disorder and operational psychological injuries. That is why I agree to go and I am happy and proud to do it.

On the other hand, when it comes to Cyprus, you have heard the psychologists who testified before the committee. They told us that it was too late to tackle post-traumatic stress syndrome. They explained that the intervention had to be within 24 or 48 hours or within the shortest possible time. I think that in Cyprus we are going to see soldiers who are there to entertain themselves, to have some fun. I doubt that it would be useful. That is why I find the proposal of a trip to Cyprus to be less worthwhile, except from a tourism standpoint.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay.

I don't have any other speakers on the list.

I wish, for edification's sake, to toss out that in some private conversations I've had with some members, they've indicated that they may be in favour of travelling to places where we were meeting with veterans, in terms of programs they had in other countries, etc. It's a consideration for future business.

That being said, we're now to the vote.

Do you want to read it again? We know what it is, okay. It's a visit to Cypress.

(Motion negatived)

Mr. Valley.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

As for future business, the parliamentary secretary mentioned in her comments to the witness today that there are plans in place for the 55th...the signing of the armistice in Korea. I'm not sure just how you worded that. I was just wondering if, at a future meeting, you could you inform us of some of those plans. I think it would be of interest to the committee to know as soon as possible.

I'm not sure of the date, Betty. It's upcoming anyway. If you'd let us know, we'd appreciate that.

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

It's actually the veterans organizations that are putting this together. I don't have any specific dates.

I do have an answer for another query, if I could have a minute.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Will you bring that information in the future if you have it?

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

As soon as we're made aware of it by the veterans, I would be glad to.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

It's something Mrs. Hinton sent me a note about. She wanted to bring it to our attention.

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

We had a wonderful witness from the gerontology group last week. She was asked by one of the members--I think it was you, Roger--whether VAC had participated in any research projects. You were going down that line of questioning. Her answer was that she didn't know. I do have an answer for you. There are actually 13 research projects that Veterans Affairs Canada has participated in. They've included dementia, pain, operational stress injuries, and nutrition and aging. As soon as I have this put into both French and English, I'd be happy to distribute the list.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay. I think that's a wrap.

The meeting is adjourned.