Veterans Affairs committee  I'll go back again and pound on this again. I think if we're going to increase the ranger group, we need to make sure that we increase the ranger instructors group proportionately, if not faster than that. Those folks spend the time on the land with the rangers, days and days on

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, it goes back to the type of contract they're employed under: reserve class A, B or C. Were they on an authorized function on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces? These things will be the primary determinants as to whether not the illness or injuries can be attributable to

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll add a few words, and then I'll just turn it over to my staff. It is basically the same process. You have an injury and report it. We fill out a CF 98, and the commanding officer gets it and forwards it on. These ladies were on the ground, and they can talk a little bit mo

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll speak to that, and then I'll definitely turn it over to these two because they spent many weeks on the road. What I found when I engaged with the rangers—and I'll say it again—was a tremendous sense of pride in being a ranger. Being identified in their community as rangers

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, search and rescue is a great example in the north. I mean, if there's a mission for search and rescue, probably the first line of attack is going to be the ranger group. If there is suspicious behaviour on the land, it's probably going to be the ranger group who is there fir

Veterans Affairs committee  No, I don't have visibility on that number.

Veterans Affairs committee  We found several things in the environment that caused that. First and foremost, it's the same with any other military member. It's the fear of not being included. If they're sick or injured, they can't perform on a patrol group and they may miss that opportunity. The thought of

Veterans Affairs committee  It's very simple. It's just the lack of knowledge. I don't think they've been briefed on what is potentially there in the future for them. I keep talking about the Canadian ranger instructors. These folks are left with doing it all: all the administration, the education, the tra

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it does come down to resources.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think that lines up with many other things we've heard. A military member who's transitioning out would like to talk to an ex-military member so that they're talking the same language. I'm sure it would be the same for the indigenous community, but I'll go back to something a

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll expand a little on the two examples I gave. Say we want to do a straight bank deposit. My cheque goes in the bank every two weeks. I don't see it, but it goes in the bank every two weeks. That's easy for me. It's not so easy in a community where there is no bank or no ATM

Veterans Affairs committee  I wasn't there at the beginning when they decided how they were going to do this, but if you look at some of the maladies that are in that community, diabetes is very high, and heart disease starts early. Those were some of the things that were taken into consideration, I'm sure,

Veterans Affairs committee  Do you mean in regard to universality of service?

Veterans Affairs committee  I have not seen that, no.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.