Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  In this case, I might ask Mr. Tessier to respond to the kinds of research that VAC undertakes and is able to do.

Veterans Affairs committee  Unfortunately, I can't answer that kind of question. I was not part of the discussion.

Veterans Affairs committee  I follow the progress of the file, because I want to get good results for our veterans. Unfortunately, I'm not privy to everything. I'm personally responsible for a rather important file, and I must devote my full attention to it.

Veterans Affairs committee  I didn't create this system. I want to make sure veterans can get answers as quickly as possible. Steps can be taken to improve the system, to increase capacity and to respond to all requests.

Veterans Affairs committee  We're well on our way to achieving our service targets. As I said earlier, nearly 70% of decisions are made in 16 weeks or less, in the case of the additional pain and suffering benefit and other benefits. We can certainly take steps to ensure that we respond to claims within a reasonable time frame.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, certainly. For the current fiscal year, so far, processing times for requests in French are less than those for requests made in English. We have responded to more requests made by French speakers, and the gap is now 0.4%. When it comes to requests made by men and women, there's a three-week gap.

Veterans Affairs committee  These results will soon be published on our website. There is always a delay.

Veterans Affairs committee  When it comes to claims made by women, the gap is currently three weeks. Last year, the gap was one week. Since the number of claims made by female veterans is smaller, at 15% to 17% of the total claims received by Veterans Affairs, this varies a little from year to year. However, we have gone from a gap of 10 to 12 weeks to a gap of 1 to 3 weeks.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would say that there are three things. The one we can't control is the number of applications that come forward to us. The department has made and has put an exceptional effort into making sure we're publicizing the benefits, services and programs that we have available. What that means is that more veterans might come forward to apply.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we've been reducing the turnaround times for disability benefits applications over the course of the last number of years. As a result of the additional funding we received and the additional human resources capacity we've had on hand to address files beyond our service standard of 16 weeks, what's commonly referred to as the backlog has been reduced, as noted by the member, by about 75%.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't answer that question, since I wasn't involved in the file.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, not at all. I'm involved in service delivery, but the commemoration issue is not one of my responsibilities.

Veterans Affairs committee  We use surveys at every opportunity. We survey veterans every two years or so to learn more about their experiences related to programs and their accessibility, as well as their level of satisfaction with them. We use the results of these surveys to learn more about how we should improve or change our programs to better meet veterans' demands.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, but we also conduct consultations with veterans, particularly through the Let's Talk Veterans site, which allows us to ask them a number of questions. Recently, we consulted them about their experience with the service application process. We asked them questions to see if they had any tips for improving the process, for example.