National Defence committee  Defining a family is deceptively simple. When we look to the body of legislation in law that surrounds compensation and benefits, insurance and others, everybody seems to have a very specific definition. That's part of the problem the ombudsman encountered. We have a very clear a

National Defence committee  Well, I think on the parents there may be a two-part answer, one from me and one from Colonel Blais. From my point of view, parents are a population that is an extra challenge for us, because they aren't necessarily located where the member is or where the rest of the family is.

National Defence committee  It's a great question. The short answer is no, but we do have resources to facilitate access. We've partnered with the Ottawa MFRC over the last 14 to 16 months to launch a program called “Operation Family Doc”. Op Family Doc has been able to successfully connect about 1,000 fami

National Defence committee  —and start to apply it to the rural population context.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to add something on that. The information line for families is an example of programs put in place following the assessment of the community needs of our families. They told us that access to the mission information line five days a week and seven hours a

National Defence committee  I will endeavour to obtain the answer to that question.

National Defence committee  Since January.

National Defence committee  Unfortunately, I cannot answer you with precision, but I can attempt to determine what the current situation is. This program is quite recent and honestly, I must say that the only statistics I have right now are for couples. I don't know if single people may attend the training.

National Defence committee  Veterans Affairs is very mindful of that and has established a vocational rehab program specifically aimed at spouses who will become the primary breadwinners following a transition where the member is in fact either not employable or less employable than they were while they wer

National Defence committee  To underscore that, we're not just doing that with the military member population. Yesterday, one of the most inspiring stories that was told to the 150 folks who are going through mental health training was the story of a corporal who has returned to full duty following both p

National Defence committee  We're trying to use what I would call a multi-channel approach. We know that relying solely on the member to bring information home will get us some families who become informed, but not necessarily all. That's why we advertise in Canadian Military FamilyMagazine. That's why we a

National Defence committee  I can partially answer your question, Ma'am, but I'll have to advise the chair that the director general of compensation and benefits is the authority for integrative relocation and home equity assistance. The “rent subsidies” are not clear to me; perhaps that would be post livin

National Defence committee  Okay.

National Defence committee  I'm able to respond to the MFSP and the MFRCs. I'm perhaps not the right authority to be asking the question to on the others.

National Defence committee  It's a very pertinent question. I just spent Sunday with all of the army command teams from the reserve communities across the country, helping to do just that, to reach out to help them understand what is available to their members and families, particularly to their families. I