Veterans Affairs committee  I can add that we have veterans living all over the country where we may not have district offices right now. For example, in Yarmouth, if there's a veteran who wishes to meet with a case manager or a client service agent, we ensure that we have a staff member who will go down an

Veterans Affairs committee  I can also add that case managers are going out more and more often to reserve units and ensuring that they're giving information sessions about Veteran Affairs Canada. Even if they release, they can come back at a later date.

Veterans Affairs committee  Okay, sure. Our former system was very disjointed. For example, in the Atlantic region there was one telephony system, whereas western Canada would have a different type of telephony system. Callers would call in from the geographic area. The new telephony system is adopted acr

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  We have four client contact centre sites: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; Kirkland Lake, Ontario; and Winnipeg.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can certainly start. This particular tool is for our case managers, our client service agents, and they were very much consulted to determine the types of tools they needed to do their job better. It was about equipping them with the best possible tool out there so they could

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure, I can start and, Charlotte, if you have anything to add or, Bernard, you can continue. Certainly, medical releasing involves working with a DND case manager and being part of an IPSC, an integrated personnel support unit. Our VAC staff also work in each of the integrated p

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  I believe that would be Service Canada. We do have a partnership with Service Canada that started in January this year. They do take some general calls on our behalf. I will hand it over to my colleague, who can provide you with a name.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Charlotte. l would just like to pick up on a few points that my colleague made and demonstrate the effect these initiatives are having in the field from a client service point of view. As part of our transformation initiatives, we have been cutting red tape for our

Veterans Affairs committee  I would just add that I see more and more community-driven events throughout the Atlantic region that do recognize Afghanistan veterans. We are seeing an increase in the recognition events out there for modern-day or younger veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure. I would just add that as Colleen said, we're doing more and more every day to reach out. Two years ago, the IPSCs began to be set up. It's only since that time that we've had more of a presence on the bases. We have VAC staff working side by side with their DND colleagues.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would add a similar statement: that investing in technology I feel is the way we can improve not only our outreach but also our service to veterans. The feedback to date is that they would like to be able to self-serve and go to our site and get more information, so we are look

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct. We entered a partnership in January.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have all the details, but I understand that, yes, we are in partnership with Service Canada, and in turn they ensure there is a group of individuals who respond to callers.