Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, again, as the minister indicated, the federal government doesn't run hospitals. With the handover transition of Ste. Anne's Hospital last year, all hospitals are now in the possession of the provinces, yet, as the minister mentioned in an earlier question, we support veterans in approximately 1,500 long-term care facilities coast to coast, because the research shows, and our veterans are saying, that veterans want to be close to family.

Veterans Affairs committee  As the minister said in his opening remarks, sir, we have hired 381 employees across the country. Of that number, 113 are case managers. Office by office, we're staffing up in all of them. In some parts of the country, it is a challenge to find the right skill sets—the social workers, the psychologists, and so on.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, we are certainly focused on engaging veterans and getting them into the government, and indeed finding them their new purpose. We know, as you mentioned, that as part of mental well-being, veterans need to have a purpose and a focus and they need to move on.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, we get the advertising from a central pot for the Canada Remembers program. This is something that is organized out of the Privy Council Office. We make a bid so that for Remembrance Day and so on we can get access to that. When my chief financial officer is up here, she could probably expand on that answer.

Veterans Affairs committee  To clarify, the federal government's total contribution to the Invictus is $10 million. The $6 million is the additional amount coming into the department to flow through to Invictus. Totally, and with a contribution from other departments, there will be $10 million going across, keeping in mind that Invictus is also running a partnership with the Province of Ontario, which is making a contribution.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have them readily at hand, but following us is the chief financial officer in corporate services, retired Rear-Admiral Liz Stuart. I know that she'll have that kind of information.

Veterans Affairs committee  In addition to what the minister has mentioned, I'd also like to highlight educational products for schools across Canada, as we do for Remembrance Week, right from the grassroots all the way through, and also with the linkages of first nations and indigenous peoples and their contribution, not only to Vimy Ridge but to other battles in World War I.

Veterans Affairs committee  To be clear, that $42 million is for workforce adjustment, as we had federal employees who were transitioning to retirement, and for their benefits. That really captures the cost, the $42 million. On the transfer agreement, we can share it with you. It's really quite in depth, but the key is a seamless transfer, maintaining the same level of care that the veterans enjoyed under federal ownership—now provincial—which was that veterans could speak the language of their choice, but also, the door was open to additional veterans who want to move into the hospital.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, sir. Each of the veterans will be on specific wards. We will ensure they have the same level of service that they did while it was a federal hospital, and also access to other support services such as physiotherapy and arts and crafts programs. We've also ensured that for the day centre, for veterans of World War II and Korea, who are still very mobile, they can come into a drop-in centre, with the support of the volunteers who are there.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's Michael Burns, at True Patriot Love.

Veterans Affairs committee  I actually know what we have for the numbers in each location that should be there, but I don't have today, to be absolutely accurate with you, how many are there today. If Michel doesn't have it, we can come back to you with a snapshot in time of where we are on those five offices.

Veterans Affairs committee  For two.

Veterans Affairs committee  We have Kelowna open and operational. In every one of the cases... You'll have to ask Michel Doiron, who's going to be following me in just a few moments, and he'll indicate.... I know how many staff I have in each location, but whether we're actually at the upper level right now....

Veterans Affairs committee  I think once we have the location, as the minister indicated, by working with our partners across government to make sure we have the right facility and all of the furniture and that kind of thing, it's just about making sure that we have the right people and the right skill sets.

Veterans Affairs committee  We have a transition committee that we maintain with the province. On that, we have two key leaders out of Veterans Affairs, plus a veteran from the region, retired Lieutenant-General Michel Maisonneuve, who is also on the foundation of Ste. Anne's Hospital, and they are meeting with the province and with the hospital staff on a regular basis, and following up where there are challenges.