Veterans Affairs Committee on May 27th, 2009

[Col Pat Stogran]

Mr. Chair, I have, yes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

You have read it. So you were given a copy.

Did you provide input after having read it?

[Col Pat Stogran]

Mr. Chair, we were provided with a copy after I inquired with the minister's chief of staff about why we didn't get a copy, and actually, with the individual who was responsible for producing it, some of my staff provided some advice and some points of contact to facilitate the study.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Did you personally, sir, provide input after you had read it?

[Col Pat Stogran]

Mr. Chair, I did not.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

So if I might just summarize, and I'd look not so much for an answer as an acknowledgement or a disagreement with my summary, one of the key elements in your estimation, based on what I've heard you present today, is that what's required is an aggressive marketing campaign by Veterans Affairs in homeless shelters.

[Col Pat Stogran]

Mr. Chair, I think that's an oversimplification, but in the first instance, I think that characterizes the type of safety net that should be cast broadly.

What I think is really needed, in addition to that marketing campaign, is to really understand homelessness in the context of our veterans, to do a study as the Australians, Americans, and British have.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

The other thing I would like to ask, and I don't disagree with your points of view, sir, on basing advice and basing comment on solid evidence and solid background.... We all run into this in our own situations as politicians and members of Parliament. You're always hearing anecdotal information, and we're witnessing every day anecdotal information in our own communities, in our own circumstances, on a variety of issues, including perhaps some Veterans Affairs issues.

I suppose I would ask you, the advice that you have provided, has it been based on something more than your anecdotal experiences?

[Col Pat Stogran]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, I wouldn't refer to them as anecdotal experiences. I would refer to them as my observations and my discussions with individuals. I think in terms of the rigour of evidence, you can't get much more rigorous than the first person singular, talking to people on the ground and talking to homeless veterans. To me, anecdotal would be something you'd hear around the water cooler, and that's not the way I do business.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Stogran.

Thank you, Mr. McColeman.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, could we get a copy of the report that Colonel Stogran has referred to, the strategy for homelessness that our witness mentioned?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

If Mr. Stogran has it in his possession, then he should be able to give it to the committee.

[Col Pat Stogran]

Mr. Chair, it's a departmental document, so I believe it's up to them to--

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

We could put the request in to the clerk to request the department to supply it to the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Okay.

[Col Pat Stogran]

This is my legal adviser, Madam Guilmet-Harris.

[Diane Guilmet-Harris, As an Individual]

When we asked permission to disclose the report to the public, we were advised that although the first portion of the report is public information because it's a summary of already existing studies, the second portion of the report, our recommendations to the minister, would be excluded under section 21 of the Access to Information Act.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Okay. Thank you very much.

We will request the document, and then they'll have the opportunity to answer us thusly or in some other fashion.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, will we be introduced to this eminent legal counsel?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

I think you just now have it labelled right beside you, Mr. Harris.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Excellent.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

You'll be happy to know that there's some--

[A voice]

It's a relative.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

She's not a relative of mine.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Please declare any conflict of interest you may have, Mr. Harris.