National Defence committee  Madam Chair, it's Trevor Cadieu here just doing a communications check.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I'm going to have to return to the committee with a precise number. It's a relatively small number of Canadian Armed Forces members who have contracted COVID while serving overseas.

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, no CAF members have died as a result of contracting COVID-19. I'll just ask the surgeon general if he wants to comment on the severity of the disease amongst some members.

National Defence committee  On the departure of Canadian Armed Forces personnel from those facilities, we had established beforehand with each of the provinces what we referred to as “transition criteria” that needed to be met and agreed upon between the Canadian Armed Forces and those provinces. First an

National Defence committee  Go ahead, Surgeon General.

National Defence committee  Right now we are working very closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada as part of the vaccine rollout. From a national perspective, they are considering right now the prioritization of the rollout of the vaccine, whether it be for vulnerable populations, first responders a

National Defence committee  That is something that our chief of the defence staff is currently considering. He will be taking additional advice from his health advisers. Surgeon General, is there anything you would like to add to that?

National Defence committee  I think the Public Health Agency is working through right now the number and stocks of the vaccine from various manufacturers, so it's not yet evident to us what specific vaccine will be made available to Canadian Armed Forces personnel. I think the surgeon general might have ad

National Defence committee  I'll have to return to the committee with a detailed written response in terms of the precise numbers. As was the case I think with all government departments that had to mobilize in support of Canadians as part of the COVID-19 response, there was a supplemental request for reso

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I'll also turn to my colleagues who will provide supplemental responses. Of course, as our Canadian Armed Forces members deployed into these facilities, they were mobilized by Canada and Canadians for a reason. Certainly it was because of the gravity of the situatio

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I do not have much further to add to that particular point. Of course, as we go through this pandemic, once we're able to reflect on what we've learned through our operations in support of Canada, our chief of the defence staff will provide advice to the government

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for his question. I think you are absolutely right that the Canadian Rangers have featured prominently in the Canadian Armed Forces response to help Canadians throughout this pandemic. You referred specifically to Canadian Rangers

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for his question. In many cases, almost universally, we find that our Canadian Rangers are very integrated in their local communities. They are highly respected because of the training they receive and their service to Canada. Often,

National Defence committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I will turn it over to our surgeon general, as your question is specific to the number of CAF personnel who have fallen ill in long-term care facilities. Overall, across both Quebec and the province of Ontario, we have just over 50, I believe 55, who hav

National Defence committee  In terms of the resourcing of the Canadian Armed Forces, of course, that's the subject of deliberations for the Government of Canada based on the advice of our chief of the defence staff. We are organizing with the resources at our disposal to be able to address those two require