We've done several reviews on the JPSU over the years. I know that when the new Chief of the Defence Staff, General Vance, came in, he took it upon himself as one of his personal goals to get to the bottom of the JPSU, to get it set up and ready to have it functioning to provide that service to the members as required.
My problem with the JPSU would go back to the staffing levels, first and foremost. I have been in this position for a little over two and half years, and I've heard since I've started that we don't have the right numbers of staff on the ground. I found out today that we're still about 30 bodies shy of what the full operational numbers should be. The problem with the full op number is that it was established prior to coming out of Afghanistan, so my question would be, on the number that we've targeted—it was 457, and I think it has increased to 474—is it the right number? If it is, why aren't we doing more to staff more quickly?
I understand that there are competitive salaries across the country. These things need to be addressed, but it's not as if we found out about this today. We've known it for several years. That's my concern with the JPSU.
I know that General Vance has put a lot of effort into the organization and how it's going to be structured. There are going to be some responsibilities that devolve back down to the local chains of command. I think that's probably a good thing in order to help them have flexibility on the ground and to adapt. I reserve final comment until I see what the end result is going to be and until we're fully staffed and have done an environmental assessment to ensure that the right case management ratio is in place and people are moving through the system at the pace they need to.