National Defence committee  I'm not aware of the details of that other than what we saw at Greenwood, where there were some charging stations being implemented and installed. I'm not aware of the details of the distances between them.

National Defence committee  Well, building permits for residential housing would be done by the community. As to those on base, that's another good question for the assistant deputy minister of IE.

National Defence committee  I don't know how long it takes per se, but they have told me it's taking too long.

National Defence committee  Yes, it's 25% of their gross family income.

National Defence committee  Yes. They do have a personal responsibility to demonstrate that income, and there's a process that goes along with it, but they have the ability to cap their rent at 25% of their gross family income.

National Defence committee  It's my understanding—Robyn will correct me if I'm wrong—that it is a Treasury Board policy for residential housing on base. In this case, it's government housing. It is basically approved by the Minister of National Defence.

National Defence committee  Yes, absolutely. The CFHD does mitigate some of that particular issue for members. We are talking more about junior members than senior members in that regard.

National Defence committee  I don't personally. I don't think we've received any complaints in that regard, but Robyn can correct me or confirm that. It's hard for me to say whether they do or do not just because I haven't heard it. I'll come back to my earlier point that there are other groups separate from me and my organization—whether that's the chaplaincy, the military family resource centres or different charitable organizations, such as Together We Stand—that do support members.

National Defence committee  What I am hearing is that some members, at different points in time, have been or are homeless. I don't believe they've actually told me what they are living in. They are living in RVs or are couch surfing in some cases. One dependent told me that they were homeless for five months.

National Defence committee  I can't speak specifically on the latter part of your question. The issue for us is primarily around families who are posted and move around the country. It leads to spouses or partners not being able to find appropriate employment, and we all know that nowadays you need two incomes to live appropriately.

National Defence committee  Well, as I said, the largest reason members are leaving nowadays—and that's according to the CAF survey itself—is military family issues, part of which is the cost of living, cost of housing, being able to access child care, being able to access a doctor and other various reasons.

National Defence committee  Well, I can't say how long it takes to actually fix it. What I will say is that in order to do all the maintenance required on the base, likely more resourcing will be needed.

National Defence committee  No, I wouldn't say that so much. The Canadian Forces Housing Agency hires contractors to get the work done in residential housing units, and in different bases and wings they've had problems getting the contractors during different times of the year. I think at this point in time it's starting to get better, but whether or not they're able to attract contractors depends on the economic environment at the time.

National Defence committee  I couldn't answer that question in that level of detail. That's a good question for the Canadian Forces Housing Agency.

National Defence committee  That was an initiative they showed us in Greenwood. They were replacing some of the heating systems with heat pumps, but it is an issue of electrical capacity. I'm an engineer by trade, so I understand it. Certainly it will depend on the individual age of the electrical capacity in each of the houses.