Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. I have been closing files left, right and centre. It's a lot of work on the back end to close a file and conclude that relationship with someone who has shared so much with you. When we were able to do home visits, we knew their wife, their kids, and their dog. Do you know

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't give you a specific number right now—Cathay asked for specifics, so we'll get back to you on that—but it's much more.

Veterans Affairs committee  I am frankly unsure, because we have no idea who these employees are yet. The contract starts tomorrow, and we don't even know how to refer clients to this program.

Veterans Affairs committee  Do you mean in terms of psychological support?

Veterans Affairs committee  No. We have a doctor in-house, but he only does reassessments for physical conditions.

Veterans Affairs committee  I believe it would be good to have social workers with the rehab service specialists. They certainly need that type of background. Many of them have been just rehab service specialists. That isn't necessarily someone who is privy to complex mental health issues or psychosocial is

Veterans Affairs committee  No. A notice did go out to all of those providers to give them the heads-up that they could sign up to be a rehab provider for this specific contract. Many did not sign up. Nine thousand is not a lot of people in comparison to the larger pool of providers that we previously had a

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. The promise of 9,000 providers is very small in comparison to the number of providers we have access to through the regular Medavie Blue Cross providers right now, many of whom decided not to register for this contract because the pay is lower and it takes them longer to get

Veterans Affairs committee  We could likely get that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Last week you would have heard from our president that we have been trying to meet with the minister to discuss this, even prior to its implementation. He refused to meet with us and put the contract in without consultation.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. I'll start. Yes, certainly. Just the volume of work definitely impacts that. Also, the promise that our administrative burden will be lowered by this contract, I believe, is false, because in the one Q and A we got, back in August, it specifically stated that the contractor

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. I'll be starting. Mr. Chair and committee, thank you for inviting me here today to speak about this important issue impacting our Canadian veterans. I began my career at Veterans Affairs Canada six and a half years ago with the belief that I would be able to positi