Veterans Affairs committee  I have to speak very positively of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence and the efforts they put into creating these transition working groups. However, in order to do that, you have to have someone to receive data and someone who wants to receive it.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think we have to remember that we're not the United States of America. While they are our fabulous cousins to the south, we are not them. Our experiences in service are similar but not the same. If you ask me, “Is there one ideal model?” the answer is always no. We need to loo

Veterans Affairs committee  To build on that, you need to put in research money and you need to attract people, or VAC does, to do the research we need, which I talked about a bit earlier. There has to be investment there. You're looking at capability building. You need to build a very strong peer support n

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. As I said earlier, there has to be an exchange of data. We need to build that into mandate letters. We need to state this in order for you to do cause and effect. Let's stop creating harmed veterans. Let me be a veteran because I served in an amazing career and have

Veterans Affairs committee  You're actually looking at two completely separate datasets. Because the Canadian Armed Forces has their own health care system, they provide health care. They have access to what we would call epidemiological data to look at things like diagnosis, and sometimes you can find mech

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm going to go a bit more macro. We talk about being invisible, and I can give examples of research. You have to do research on this. The numbers are too statistically small to track, but it's being used to not do anything. We have to move beyond that. This is where you start p

Veterans Affairs committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, I will build on that. If you think about it, most people who leave the Canadian Armed Forces, men and women, are not homeless or living rough. Some are, but most are not. What is key in that transition period is not expecting only VAC to do all of this, bec

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Would you mind if I responded in English? It's easier for me. I don't have all the vocabulary. I have worked with homeless veterans through Soldiers Helping Soldiers, and while it's a small group—with groups in Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto—the on

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, that's right. I agree with that completely.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Because I'm so new, I haven't filled out my paperwork, which I'm going to do. Lee-Anne, it's wonderful to see you, by the way. I think what's really important is when we're looking.... Is it legislative changes, or is it improving policy and process as we

Veterans Affairs committee  I think I'm still in transition, to be honest with you, but thank you. That's a good question. I think we have to understand cultures. In institutions like the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP, this is our family. This is our world. The hardest part of transition is going on t

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening, honourable members. Thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the experiences of female and women veterans. As the first woman CAF veteran appointed to the Senate, I appear before you as a fellow parliamentarian and as a veteran myself,