I think that's going to fall to me as well.
The first bit of information they have to submit is their file. Some files can be two inches thick, with all the records of all the time they're requesting to buy back. My staff and the administrative correspondence unit go back and forth with the member to make sure all of their records are complete and that they're happy with the calculations we have provided. From there that file goes to my banking section, and the monthly deposits then come off the member's cheque. So they're in the plan. They're contributing towards what they owe. From there the records are validated by the actual pension buyback team. That's a big chunk of the time it takes, some hours of the 100 hours in total. A statement of earnings is then created—and because the records aren't automated, they first have to be built up in order to be automated. Then from there they're audited by a separate person. The OAG talked about internal control deficiencies, and because the numbers are manually entered, if a person puts a 6 instead of a 9, there's no system to check that, so we need a separate set of eyes to be able to verify the numbers. That's in the audit stage.
After that's verified, the statement of earnings is then put into the computer system. Again, that takes an awful lot of time. It then has to be approved to make sure what was supposed to go into the system is in the system. Again that's to catch what the OAG had said about internal controls. From there the final cost is approved and sent to the member. They have to say that they agree and that they are buying back the figure. We then have to notify the Canada Revenue Agency, because if the member wants to transfer $300,000 or $400,000 of RRSPs, we have to make sure they have the room to do that. CRA then either confirms or tells the member that they have to deregister the funds. Then the statement of service and election costs are finalized and sent to the member. The member signs it, and their buyback is complete.
Then that file goes to the reserve force pension benefits group, which is exactly the same as the regular force pension benefits group. It is important to note that it takes exactly the same time to do the pension benefits for reservists as it does for the regular force. There is no difference. The only hiccup is that the buyback has to be done for reservists; it's typically not done for the regular force. That's why you don't hear about as many complaints or issues with the regular force.
If that's not enough detail, let me know.