Public Accounts committee  To answer Mr. Giguère's question, we are working to reduce the processing time to 16 weeks.

Public Accounts committee  We have some numbers, but I don't know whether they include what you are asking for specifically. Even if I don't have this information with me, we know how many of these people are homeless. I will send you this information. However, these numbers should be taken with a grain of

Public Accounts committee  No, it's an ongoing process.

Public Accounts committee  I will not talk about the request from Madam Migneault because these are private files, and I will not discuss any of our veterans' files. I apologize, but....

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, sir.

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely, that part I can. We have added families, because it's a scientifically proven fact with mental health issues that having the family involved—the spouse, the children, the caregivers—often helps in the treatment of the individual. Our 20 sessions that I talked about a

Public Accounts committee  No, sir.

Public Accounts committee  No, sir. When they go into the rehab program, if they are not mentally fit, they will get the mental health services they require prior to their getting into the program of their choice. There are services available there. It's detached from the disability benefit process.

Public Accounts committee  There are no plans that I am aware of at the moment to reintroduce the survey, so I can't answer for the future. It's something we'll have to discuss. However, we are using a different tool to assess our services. It's the Life After Service Survey, which is more scientific and

Public Accounts committee  I'm going to be a little bit more categoric. I think the services are there. We link disability benefits to mental health services, and I think we have to be very careful when we do that. The disability benefit—the 16 weeks, the 32 weeks—for sure, it opens the doors to many ser

Public Accounts committee  I don't want to talk about the case in particular because—

Public Accounts committee  In this case, we have reviewed to make sure that type of weakness does not occur, but you are right, sir, there are two areas. Usually it's not the illness. The doctors tell us what the illness is. That's pretty clear. The big challenge we have is service relationship. We have to

Public Accounts committee  Veterans Affairs offers multiple levels of appeal rights to an individual. You can appeal at the first level. At the second appeal, you go to the veterans review board. You can actually go to the Federal Court. In all my 25 years in the public service, I don't think I've seen any

Public Accounts committee  I'll start and I will pass it over to my doctor expert beside me. CROMIS is an outcome-based system that tracks not the name of the individual but what type of care we're giving them and what the outcomes are. CROMIS is recognized internationally and the doctor who works for us,

Public Accounts committee  I cannot give you that number. We have hired five to date, five additional case managers. The additional are not all in the areas where the offices were closed. We have to be very careful. Ottawa is a high-volume area for obvious reasons. There are a lot of military in the great