Merci.
Thank you, Colleen.
Good afternoon. My name is Krista Locke, and I am the director general for the Atlantic region as well as the national contact centres network and treatment authorization centres. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to talk about outreach in the field.
From an Atlantic region point of view, we are very active when it comes to outreach, consultation, and engagement with our various stakeholders. Over the past couple of years we have participated in several on-base information sessions promoting our programs and services. In cooperation with the chief of military personnel, we were able to reach out to hundreds of Canadian Forces personnel at CFB Gagetown, CFB Halifax, and Canadian Forces Station in St. John's, Newfoundland. But it didn't stop there. We also visited personnel at Greenwood and at Shearwater earlier this year for similar sessions.
I would also like to point out that these outreach sessions that were part of our CMP's tour were beyond the ongoing outreach and information sessions that take place regularly throughout the year at these bases, as well as other sites, on a number of topics relevant to serving members.
We also reach out to reservists to provide an overview of our services and benefits at presentations to reservist units across the region. Like our colleagues at a national level, we also have active client advisory committees in the Atlantic region at the local level with representation from various veterans organizations and groups.
Our committees are very active and engaged in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and work is currently under way to revive and rebuild the stakeholder committees in other areas to ensure we have full coverage throughout the region and that we have a consistent approach across the board. We realize the tremendous potential of these committees and the role they play in fostering relationships with our stakeholders and sustaining a two-way dialogue on issues pertaining to our veteran population.
We also support many community groups interested in grassroots initiatives in support of veterans. As many of you may have learned during your cross-country tour earlier this year, the town of Conception Bay South in Newfoundland and Labrador launched a community covenant late last year, a formal commitment by the town and its residents to support local veterans.
Departmental staff in the Atlantic region, in collaboration with a number of other federal and provincial government partners and community groups in Newfoundland and Labrador, were actively involved in the successful implementation of this unique community-driven project.
Through our community engagement partnership, our community war memorial program, and our cenotaph and monument restoration program, we continue to reach out to collaborate with community groups on remembrance-related activities and initiatives at a grassroots level.
In closing, we know that continuing to build stronger relationships and broadening our reach with external partners will not only help in our planning and programming for the future, but it will also help us learn better, faster, and more efficient ways to do so.
Thank you.