Veterans Affairs committee  The way I see it, it is a matter of communication. We have open discussions, but unfortunately— I think there has been some open discussion about some differences, but really, the communication goes on, and there are many things we do agree on. Of course, as is the nature of thi

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't think the employees of the department would classify the ombudsman as an irritant. I think they would see it as another person trying to help veterans. You know, there is a reality, and I'll speak of my own branch. I have 2,100 employees and over 60 service locations in

Veterans Affairs committee  No, we're not. Essentially the ombudsman will be filing an annual report. The report will be with the minister, and the minister will table it. On an ongoing basis, when the office of the ombudsman sees some issues they send us a report. On funerals and burials, for example, the

Veterans Affairs committee  One of the differences lies with the responsibilities. As public servants, we are responsible for the government's programs and procedures. I believe that we also have a responsibility to make suggestions to the minister. On the other hand, the ombudsman can be critical of syste

Veterans Affairs committee  I think the department was very positive, from my standpoint, and of course I was very close to the file. Hopefully, Mr. Chair, your members would have seen this in Charlottetown. The employees of the department are very committed to veterans. I've been a public servant for a lon

Veterans Affairs committee  I would classify that as a work in progress. The meetings at the staff level continue, notwithstanding some discussions that have been out in the media. Our regularly scheduled meetings on a quarterly basis will continue. I would like to characterize that while there have obvio

Veterans Affairs committee  I couldn't speak for those particular individuals because I didn't ask them. I certainly support and promote an open moving back and forth between staff at the department and the ombudsman. It's nice to walk in the other person's shoes, as it were. In fact many of the people that

Veterans Affairs committee  No. Let me come at it in two ways. First, a lot of people haven't been coming back--maybe a handful or fewer. There are only about 27 to 30 people there. I think one of the challenges the office is facing is that as you move forward in an organization from ground zero, you have

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for the invitation to come and meet with you. Last week, the minister had the honour of hosting several of you in Charlottetown. We found your visit to be enormously valuable. It allowed us to meet face to face to talk about our mutual concerns and explore opportunit

Veterans Affairs committee  This is the first I've heard of that particular concern, because we have been working on a reimbursement basis. But I believe there are certain circumstances when basically a special needs fund could look after certain expenditures when the veteran is in what I would say consider

Veterans Affairs committee  I could add to that. I don't have it in front of me, but there are some security measures that may not be actually obvious to people when they pass by. For example, there are video cameras on the site that are being monitored, so that if inappropriate behaviour is seen at the sit

Veterans Affairs committee  Really, when you look at it, the veterans organizations and the various advisory committees, which are made up of representatives and veterans, are quite capable of informing us of the concerns they're experiencing themselves as veterans or about what they're hearing from their c

Veterans Affairs committee  For all veterans who have health-related travel needs, there is a reimbursement that would include things such as transportation costs. It would include things such as meals and accommodation. So if a veteran has a need to get medical service that is not readily available in the

Veterans Affairs committee  Just to give you a sense of the clients, there are approximately 800,000 people in Canada potentially eligible for our benefits and services. The most used program today is the disability pension program, with 178,000 Canadians in receipt of a disability pension. As for the disab

Veterans Affairs committee  First of all, with regard to the cenotaph restoration program, this is a program whereby the Government of Canada will cost share on a 50% basis with organizations, municipalities, etc., for the repair of existing monuments or cenotaphs. It does not include the construction of an