Veterans Affairs committee  There are two parts to the veteran experience. The first part is they're in the Canadian Armed Forces and they're a member and that transition starts in uniform. The first part of that is being refined for outcomes, and this is what Colonel Harris has touched on. But we're looking at overall wellness assessment.

Veterans Affairs committee  Obviously, I won't answer the air traffic controller question, as I don't have the expertise. Absolutely. What you've talked about is that the family experiences this as intimately as the service member because they have, in essence, enrolled together and served together. The families feel the same challenges as the service member, and in some cases they feel it even more strongly because it may affect spousal employment, it may affect children's education.

Veterans Affairs committee  On a global perspective, we do surveys. We're in the process of one right now with the Canadian Forces community, which includes veterans, family members, and serving members for all services. Specific to the military veterans programs, I'll turn to Colonel Harris to speak to how the outcomes are being measured in the program and then where we will fill in the gaps.

Veterans Affairs committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you for your invitation today to offer insight regarding services for military and veteran families in transition. As the director general of Morale and Welfare Services, I am also the managing director of Non-Public Property and the chief executive officer of the Staff of the Non-Public Funds of the Canadian Forces.

Veterans Affairs committee  Then there's the top-up part and the different veterans programs. SISIP LTD covers the 75%, no matter the injury or source, service-related or non-service-related. Fifteen per cent top-up then comes through Veterans Affairs. I think it's best now if I turn to Veterans Affairs, because although I live this lifestyle, it is their domain of expertise.

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, without stealing too much from my colleagues, that's the entire point: to set it up under the command of a general with all the formation capacity. Inside that group, which Brigadier-General Misener will be able to speak to, is the joint personnel support unit, casualty support management, a new director of transition services, and a series of other activities.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can certainly speak to where we're going with reservists. With respect to the reserves, it's important to note that there is a nuance, which I think the committee is very aware of, with respect to whether they were in class B or class C service. We know the vast majority of our reservists are class A.

Veterans Affairs committee  Okay. I will start at the very macro level. I will also recommend to my colleague when Brigadier-General Misener comes that perhaps he can submit an actual graphic through the clerk. It would show that, which will help everybody to understand. Very quickly, they are going to find out.

Veterans Affairs committee  Could I just add what I think is an important note? Of SISIP's Manulife case managers, 70% are ex-military in their files, and about 50% of those have had a disability, so that speaks to the case management on that side.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have a personal opinion, just to clarify my response—

Veterans Affairs committee  I know the chief has said publicly that we are, and I don't mean to imply that we're not. We're looking at universality of service. An example that the surgeon general and I have spoken about—I'm not a doctor—is that there have been massive advances in terms of the stability of medication.

Veterans Affairs committee  A time immemorial success story, and my own personal experience as a junior officer in the early 2000s, is that once people have been medically identified to have breached the universality of service and they're going to get out, we start early with the engagement with the vocational rehabilitation SISIP file to get them examined and in.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll just add to that from a CAF perspective so that there's not a misrepresentation here. This work has been ongoing for several years now, so we're into a new phase of it. Brigadier-General Misener will be able to touch on that, but the example of the increased medical releases and awareness is one of the things the Canadian Armed Forces is working very hard on.

Veterans Affairs committee  When you release from the Canadian Armed Forces, you go through a checklist of what you have to do. On that list is whether you have any medical conditions. You must do a medical and a dental check prior to release. The question always comes up of what kind of circumstance someone would be in to sort of pop up at the other end.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll speak from my current responsibilities, which are the SISIP side of this and our contractor relationship on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces with Manulife. Absolutely, we're well resourced there. The challenge has been traditionally in the transition space, which previously was an additional mandate.