Veterans Affairs Committee on March 13th, 2012

[Anne-Marie Robinson]

No, I have not.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Okay. I just want to read you something that is in our background material.

In 2010–2011, of the 249 persons who registered for this entitlement...

—this is the priority appointments—

...154 CF or RCMP members who had been released for medical reasons were appointed to positions in the public service. This represents a decrease of 17% compared with 2009–2010, and is the first decrease observed since 2006-2007.

Now, this is the background document that we received. In your opening remarks you crunched the numbers differently and talked about cohorts. Can you square the two for me?

[Anne-Marie Robinson]

I think the difference is just between the years. I would have to verify it. I can certainly write to the committee to ensure that I'm accurate in my remarks, but I believe the cohort that you're talking about would be one that wasn't yet finished. It would end March 31. I was talking about two-year cohorts, or people through the full length of their entitlement.

However, I would say if your question, as well, is around an observation that the rate is declining, I think that we need to look at that closely. We do know that overall in the public service, in the last year in particular, and when we published our annual report in the fall, that the rate of new appointments is declining in the public service.

So when we finish this cohort, we will send that information to the committee. It may well be possible that the appointment rate has declined a little bit as a result of the fewer appointments within the public service.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Is it the case that the large majority of appointments are women?

[Anne-Marie Robinson]

I don't have that information. I could look at that and send it to the committee, but I don't have information on gender.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Gentlemen from the Commissionaires, I think I have this right, does the Commissionaires have a right of first refusal with respect to provision of security services in federal government buildings?

[Col Bill Sutherland]

Yes, we do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

I'm sorry, we're past. If it's a quick one, I'll let you finish it.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Is that a fixed-term arrangement, and when is it up?

[Col Bill Sutherland]

It is a fixed-term. It's up in 2016.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Favouritism, Chair....

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

I know.

I know it's going to happen at the very end, because you're the last witness and we're trying not to cut your time off.

Mr. Lobb, for four minutes, please.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The first question I have for the commissionaires is around psychological evaluations and psychological exams. Certainly, we know that PTSD is a significant issue with our new veterans.

Do you require a psychological exam for the people who are coming into the Commissionaires?

[Capt(N) Paul Guindon]

That is done by the Department of National Defence medical authorities, and it's part of the return-to-work program we have with them. The case is managed by a case manager in the region, and each corps division has a staff person who liaises and manages with that person. We are given the information we need to know in order to make sure the person is well taken care of and protected, but we don't run our own. It's done by DND.

[Col Bill Sutherland]

Can I answer that as well? It's a part that is probably less formal.

Because we're a veterans' organization and our primary purpose is to employ vets, many veterans don't know how to talk about some of their experiences, or are uncomfortable talking about their experiences with non-vets.

One of the services we have provided over the 87 years we've been in place is the opportunity for vets to talk about their experiences with each other. It sort of softens some of the impact of critical incident stress, post-traumatic stress, or whatever kinds of cumulative impacts their service or experiences have created in their own minds.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Let's say that someone who is with you at the Commissionaires wants to apply to the RCMP. Because they've had the psychological exam with DND, are they exempt from taking it with the RCMP?

[Col Bill Sutherland]

I don't know.

[Capt(N) Paul Guindon]

The answer is no.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I live about an hour away from London. That's where my riding is. Where is the closest Commissionaires office for a veteran in my community?

[Capt(N) Paul Guindon]

There is an office right in London.

[Col Bill Sutherland]

There's a fairly large district office in London.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Okay. That's good.

My next question is for Mr. Blakely. I commend you for what you're doing.

I'm trying to get my head around this website you're working on. Who is working in partnership on that website?

[Robert Blakely]

The Government of Canada, the various construction contractors, the building trades, and TransCanada Pipelines are working on it.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Is this website going to cost $150,000?