National Defence Committee on Feb. 9th, 2017

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

Yes, I think the chief was just orienting.

The mission of the naval reserve, of course, is just to generate the individual sailors who are ready to be employed at sea and ashore, so I don't see any difference to our mission or how we deliver training within the naval reserve units. There may be, as a result of what you're referring to, some type of change in how they're employed, but I'm not sure that I'm aware of exactly what you're talking about. Within the spectrum of our mandate to deliver trained sailors, I don't think anything would change.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Okay. Well, then, at this point I've asked all the questions that I have today. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

We have some time left, so we'll do a lightning round. I want to make sure everybody has a chance to ask questions.

Mr. Gerretsen, do you need five minutes?

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Captain Ross, you had made a very interesting point, which was that years ago 50% of those reservists were full-time employees. I'm curious as to what has led to that decline. Is it the fact that we live now in a world where people just don't have the same kind of time that they used to? Decades ago, there was usually one income-earner in a family, which maybe made priorities different. Is it the fact that people aren't looking at being in the reserves in the same way that they used to, and that is what's declined? Do you have anything...?

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

The decline from 50% was a conscious effort by the Canadian Armed Forces. We were no longer functioning as a reserve force.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Is that something we need to return to?

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

No, not at all. The National Defence Act talks about reserve service as being something other than continuous full-time service.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Let me ask another question.

When you have volunteer firefighters and regular firefighters, there's always a tension between them and sometimes there's competition. The regular force feels as though the volunteer force is stepping on its toes. I come from an amalgamated city in which we needed to amalgamate volunteer and full-time volunteer firefighters, and it's a very challenging process.

Does the same thing happen? Do you detect the same thing? Does that play into it at all?

[Capt(N) Chris Ross]

Sure it does, and we've all experienced that over the years, but I would say that in the last 20 years we have significantly bridged that gap. Through our operational role of manning the Kingston class, we have attained a higher level of credibility and we are viewed as being a more professional organization now than we were 20 years ago. That is something we see as very positive.

As we move forward into the next phase of how we will contribute to RCN operations, we have every intent of maintaining that high level of credibility and professionalism. We will do so better now by working alongside our regular force counterparts in the same ship, doing exactly the same jobs.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Thank you.

I'll just say that in Kingston, we have HMCS Cataraqui and we also have the PWOR, which is the army reserves. The individuals who come out of those programs are really solid individuals. They contribute a lot to the community. They get the loudest applause during a parade, and we're very fortunate to have them.

I commend you on the work you're doing, and hopefully we'll start to see those numbers increase again. I think ultimately that's what we all want.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Go ahead, Ms. Gallant.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

I'll be sharing a little bit of time with Mr. Paul-Hus.

With respect to the naval reserves, do we see any incidence of PTSD after they've returned from a mission?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

That's an interesting question. I don't have specific knowledge about that. I would refer you to the Canadian Forces health services studies. To the best of my knowledge there is no increased incidence of any type of mental health issues in the reserve population.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

I wasn't asking if there was increased incidence. Do you have any incidence of people suffering from this upon returning from a mission?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

I'm not aware of any.

[CPO 1 David Arsenault]

I personally know of one who served in Afghanistan with the land forces. They were a naval reservist and they were diagnosed with PTSD afterwards and are receiving treatment for that. There may be others, but generally we don't tend to employ a whole lot of people in the type of operations where the prevalence of PTSD has been seen.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

If someone is suffering from PTSD, are the facilities and the professionals available to treat these people?

[CPO 1 David Arsenault]

Absolutely. Certainly part-time service makes things more difficult to arrange, but those services are available and those individuals are getting the aid they need in the same way that any other member who was deployed on that mission would get them.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Very good.

I'll hand it over to Mr. Paul-Hus.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Based on what you're saying, some of your troops are currently deployed on operational missions, including Operation Impact. I would like to know whether the naval troops' mission is considered a combat mission.

Are those people entitled to tax relief as a risk premium?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

If it were under a CJOC mission, I would think they would have exactly the same benefits and status as the rest of their colleagues who are deployed right now.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Do you know for sure whether they are receiving tax relief?

[Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins]

I'm not certain of the case. I think establishing that would be an individual career management issue.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you. I have no further questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Ms. Alleslev has a question, but I want to give you an opportunity. Are you okay?

Ms. Alleslev, you have the floor.