National Defence committee  As I explained earlier, 900 service providers across the country meet our criteria. Clients are free to go and see the service provider of their choice, provided that provider meets our criteria. We then reimburse for treatment expenses. In one sense, that's very different from what is done in the Canadian Forces.

National Defence committee  Yes, suppliers must meet our training and experience criteria in the area of the therapy.

National Defence committee  The people who are in the War Service category are those who fought in the world wars and the Korean War. Those appearing in the CF category are those who served from 1945 to the present, with the exception of those who fought in the Korean War.

National Defence committee  I'd like to answer. If you rely on the table showing the increase in recent years, you may think that this will continue to increase. It's very hard to make forecasts, in view of the fact that we don't know how long our military members will be deployed, on the one hand. On the other hand, you also have to consider the improvement in mental health services in the Canadian Forces.

National Defence committee  He may have them all his life. That depends on the client. The intensive phases of post-traumatic stress, for example, can last a year or two. However, many of our clients will need services throughout their lives and will remain our clients. That's not the case for the majority of them, but, unlike members of the Canadian Forces, some have been in hospital since the war.

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  All veterans have access to their services through the provincial health systems. There's also a series of private providers and private programs.

National Defence committee  If the client is entitled to the services, we will reimburse the costs. For example, in British Columbia we have two providers of comorbid programs on Vancouver Island. One is in Nanaimo and the other is in Victoria. So there are services. In budget 2007, funding was approved to establish five new clinics across the country.

National Defence committee  If we are talking about OSI clinics, we pay the full bill. If we are talking about services from private providers, the service provider bills Veterans Affairs directly.

National Defence committee  There are 900 services providers that meet our standards and are registered with us to provide services across the country. So around Kelowna there will be providers of trauma therapy for our Veterans Affairs clients. That's not a problem. The clinic locations have yet to be finalized.

National Defence committee  The OTSSCs are those of the military.

National Defence committee  There is an MOU establishing that we are going to work together to develop and harmonize... It's not yet complete. In some cases, veterans have access to the Defence clinic, and it's different in other cases. For example, there's a clinic in Winnipeg, and we have an agreement with Deer Lodge Hospital, which accepts a lot of military members from the Shilo base.

National Defence committee  When you talk about mental health services, the mandate of the operational stress injury treatment clinics is first to conduct assessments. We use the best practices, those that are recognized by researchers, in the clinics of both the Department of National Defence and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

National Defence committee  Even though I direct the National Centre for Operational Stress Injuries of the Department of Veterans Affairs, we have established agreements with the provinces and we're working on a collaborative basis. We don't have all the knowledge, all the experience or expertise in this area, since it's new and evolving.