Veterans Affairs committee  I'm glad that you're bringing that up. I will take the liberty, if you don't mind, sir, to send you a copy of the veterans ID card report, because in that report we talk about the potential to expand this forward. The card is going to be created for about 12.5¢, and we can put a chip in there and enable the technology at any point going forward.

Veterans Affairs committee  There's nothing I'm aware of that's going to be the type of card we're speaking to.

Veterans Affairs committee  I try very hard to stay in my own lane of authority. Utilization of the facilities and how access is approved or denied is well within the chain of command and outside my purview completely.

Veterans Affairs committee  As for the Afghani interpreter, I have no idea what type of arrangement was made there. If the person is suffering, if he is in Canada, I'm hoping there's access to some sort of support or assistance for him. Probably if he is encountering those types of issues and doesn't have access to service benefits, maybe he should go back to the sponsor and see what can be done for him.

Veterans Affairs committee  This goes back to the fact that there will always be a need for an adjudication process inside Veterans Affairs Canada because of these types of maladies. I think if the malady is recognized while the person is in service and there's a record of it, that's all that's required. We need to have that causation between service and malady so that Veterans Affairs Canada can start to open that door for services and benefits.

Veterans Affairs committee  It is a bit of a catch-22.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. This is one my pet projects. Last year a piece of legislation called the Veterans Hiring Act was approved and passed through the House. I sat in front of the committee and said that I thought the opportunity that then presented itself gave the authority to the Department of National Defence to determine whether the injury or malady was in service to Canada.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think I can say from my experience at Veterans Affairs Canada, and now in this position, that corporate Canada has stepped up pretty well. I think that through a lot of work, both Veterans Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence have gotten a lot of corporate partners on side.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll answer any question, apparently.

Veterans Affairs committee  First and foremost, they have different responsibilities—that goes without saying—but is one an extension of another? Let me compound your issue, and I'll probably get in a lot of trouble on this. Why are there two ombudsmen? I serve the current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces , and my friend Guy Parent is out there doing the same thing.

Veterans Affairs committee  We're living in that world today because there are—and Robyn, you can correct me on the number—10,000 serving members who are currently drawing services and benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada. I would say the chain of command doesn't know about three-quarters of them. General Vance came out a few weeks ago and said the universality of service is absolutely critical to what it is they do, and that it must stay in place.

Veterans Affairs committee  The families need to be engaged earlier. When there is an inkling that this type of thing is going on, the families need to be engaged much earlier by the Canadian Armed Forces. They need to be trained on what they can expect as these maladies manifest themselves. I believe they should have the ability to pick up the phone to reach out for help and be able to get it quickly.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it's an excellent point and I agree with you wholeheartedly. We have the data. Someone once said to me that Veterans Affairs Canada was data-rich and knowledge-poor. I do believe they have the data. With the data we've captured over the last 50 or 60 years, we should be able to project what the cost of putting a soldier in any theatre would be.

Veterans Affairs committee  I've learned in this environment that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I believe attribution of service is a game-changer on the ground. I think we can cut four to six weeks off the process immediately. The second thing we have to do is get out of this class-of-soldier thing we're in, A, B, B-plus, C, regular force, reserve force.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.