Evidence of meeting #89 for National Defence in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was data.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Has there been a general notice to anyone who's had your services provided to them that they may have had their data breached, so that they can change their password or do whatever they need to do?
What kind of data do you keep? Is it their address, financial information or credit card information? What types of data could have potentially been stolen?
6 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
To be clear, the data was copied. It was not taken from us.
We maintain data, in our databases that were not compromised, relating to our process of moving people. The data that was compromised included unstructured files, spreadsheets, Word documents and things like that. That's why it has taken time to go through and look at those things. However, we do maintain data relating to people's addresses, because we're moving them and things like that.
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Mrs. Gallant.
Ms. Lambropoulos, you have six minutes, please.
6 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to our witness for being here with us to answer some of our questions today.
We've heard from quite a few members of the Canadian Armed Forces and from different people who have experienced difficulties when it comes to relocating and when it comes to finding housing at this point in general when they're asked to change location. I'm wondering what you think is one of the most pressing issues that military members and their families face during relocation and what solutions you think would be effective.
6 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
As it relates to housing, as I look at the issues, we share the concern of the committee, but we aren't involved in building or maintaining housing. With respect to the role of policy-makers in finding those solutions, we believe that is best. We don't get involved in that part of the process.
6 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
If you don't mind, perhaps you could go through what you do when you're helping them relocate so that we have a better understanding of what services you offer. As well, let us know if that's been more difficult in recent times because of shortages, perhaps, and difficulties in finding housing.
6 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
The relocation process is very complicated. We start in the process working with members to communicate what they're entitled to and what services will be paid for. We advance them funds. We then collect receipts as they work through the process. We do provide a list of local suppliers who can help them in the process—folks who can help them buy houses or find rental properties—but those are local Canadian businesses that do that. We just maintain the directory of lawyers who help close.
A separate process assigns a household goods carrier to move their belongings. We are part of that contract as a household goods carrier, but our group, which is doing the consulting to help share and answer questions around the policy, does not get directly involved in assigning which mover gets the shipment.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
Thank you.
In terms of dealing with these different companies and with the consultants who work at your company, I'm wondering if you've noticed that it's more difficult to actually fulfill the service, given the lack of housing available right now. Do you think there are certain provinces, for example, around the country that may be experiencing this difficulty more than others?
6:05 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
As I said, the relocation process is complicated. It's been complicated for as long as I've been in the business. We don't collect data day to day on the local challenges that the CAF members may be having, so I don't have data or an opinion to share on that.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
All right. Thank you.
I'm not sure if you're aware, or if this falls under what you help with, but the Department of National Defence has instated a policy to ensure that housing charges can't exceed 25% of combined gross household income of all occupants residing in the DND residential housing unit in any one year. Is this something that people are made aware of through your company? Is this one of the services?
I guess I'm a little bit confused as to what exactly you do. Can you elaborate on the impact of this particular policy and let us know what other policies currently exist that would help members find housing that is more affordable?
6:05 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
We provide policy consulting related to the relocation from point A to point B. We are not involved in the ongoing budget or living expenses of members once they move.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
I'm going to share my time with my colleague Mr. Collins.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
Chad Collins Liberal Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Mr. Chair, I'm just curious to know if the company undertakes satisfaction surveys with Canadian Armed Forces staff and their families as it relates to the services it provides.
6:05 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
No, we do not. That is not part of our contractual relationship, but we measure what we and the government have agreed are key statistics that lead to satisfaction. We look at how quickly we're getting back to customers, the briefing calls and when we schedule them, and making sure that we have availability to answer questions.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Ms. Lambropoulos and Mr. Collins.
Ms. Normandin, you have six minutes.
Mr. Olmsted, Madame Normandin will be speaking to you in French.
6:05 p.m.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Good evening, Mr. Olmsted. Thank you for being with us.
Before I get into my questions, I want to make sure I have the dates right. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first contract that Brookfield Global Relocation Services, BGRS, won was in August 2009, and a second contract was awarded in August 2016, right?
6:05 p.m.
President, Global Relocation, Sirva Worldwide, Inc.
I don't know if there's a technical issue, but I'm not getting the translation.
6:05 p.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Andrew Wilson
Mr. Olmsted, at the bottom of your screen, there's an option to pick the language. It is a globe icon that says “Interpretation”. You just have to make sure that you're listening on the English channel. That will give you the English interpretation.
January 31st, 2024 / 6:05 p.m.
The Clerk
Is it working now, Mr. Olmsted? Can you hear me in English?