Veterans Affairs committee  Thanks very much for the question. We can confirm that this is the case. There was another veteran who raised the issue with that particular veteran's service agent.

Veterans Affairs committee  I should point out that there are many more permanent employees in this area. It's not like the other case that has been talked about a lot, where services to veterans are being provided. Mr. Harris will be able to give you more details, but the vast majority of the employees in

Veterans Affairs committee  If I could, Mr. Chair, I would just indicate that the thoroughness of this investigation was in relation to the seriousness of the incident that occurred. First we reviewed all of the files that were handled by this veterans service agent to see if there was any reference at al

Veterans Affairs committee  As Mr. Harris indicated before, we can't get into the details of the individual employee, but we can tell you that it is an employee who was well established as a veterans service agent. I can also indicate to you—to earlier questions, as well—that since this came to light, this

Veterans Affairs committee  The policy and the guidelines are very clear that our employees are not to engage directly on MAID. The only time, as indicated earlier, that they are to respond to MAID is if there is a technical question about the benefits and the impact on them. The relationship is between the

Veterans Affairs committee  To be clear, our first order of business when this transpired was to focus on the veteran with whom this transpired and to make sure that veteran is addressed. That took place immediately and regularly upon learning of this. In terms of the training, we put out a notice to all

Veterans Affairs committee  Ms. Blaney, thank you. Mr. Chair, if I could, this is an important undertaking, of course, because it ensures that veterans have access to the medical, psychological and other supports they need. The intention with this is to ensure that they have the supports in the locations w

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, if I could, I'm going to ask Ms. Blaney if my colleague Steven Harris could address that issue, because it's an office that he works with very closely.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the nub of that is that when the estimates were produced at the end of last calendar year and beginning of this calendar year, it did not incorporate the investment of the service excellence positions and funding around the supports for that, nor did it incorporate the

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, regarding Mr. Casey's request, I just want to add that we are going to review the departmental plan and explain exactly why there is a difference between the figures. So we are going to provide the exact reason, Mr. Desilets, to explain the difference between what is

Veterans Affairs committee  I can tell you there has really been an improvement. We really are concerned about this. The past and present figures have to be clear and we have to report the results and what we are planning to do. The department is making efforts to improve the situation. Mr. Harris, do you

Veterans Affairs committee  No, it has not. That position still remains vacant. As you and the committee might know, this is a Governor-in-Council appointment, so it goes through that process.

Veterans Affairs committee  No decision has been taken on that yet. There's been some identification, but no decision.

Veterans Affairs committee  I believe, Mr. Casey, that those numbers reflect the fact that when those figures were produced, there was no conception of our service excellence work continuing, so the positions that we've just spoken about for the reinvestment—the $140 million in staff—are not reflected in th

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I'll start off, if that's okay.