Veterans Affairs committee  The Public Service Commission, which we spoke of in our introductory remarks, is one of our partners that we work with on that, and there are processes to allow for priority hiring for ill and injured military veterans. The exact details of that you'd need to get from the experts at the Public Service Commission.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, in a slightly different manner. That is what the service provided through SISIP Financial does on all the bases. We have the financial counsellors, the financial advisers, and investors. That's exactly what they do. They sit with the member, go through their life's goals, and ideally find them freedom 55 or whatever the slogan is, show them how they are doing, and build them a plan.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's part of what the JPSU is enabling, that conversation through OSISS, or through that process.

Veterans Affairs committee  While we're not VAC experts, they have a current pilot going on with the term “guided support” and as we work to close the seam, we're going to leverage those results going forward.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll sort of back up a bit on that. Increasingly every year, we have organizations coming to us. Through the DCSM organization, they'll list these partnering organizations. I used MET as an example. There's a strong interest in helping mental health, whether it's as partner organizations or research through such organizations as CIMVHR, which is dealing with both Veterans Affairs and military families.

Veterans Affairs committee  That is one of the main points of our SCAN seminars. I don't want to go too far into how the public service hires in priority for ex-military personnel. There would be better witnesses on that. However, in my purview, as the staff of the non-public funds, which is an agency that works for the Canadian Forces.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't think we do.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely. Every member of the Canadian Forces, since 1982, has been mandated into the long-term disability plan through SISIP. This is a government-provided plan. They also have the option for other SISIP products for optional life insurance. If they're medically released or they apply for non-medical release for a medical condition, that disability plan guarantees them two years' worth of income, up to a maximum of 75% of their previous income.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's one of the real flexibilities we have in the morale and welfare services. We operate under the non-public fund framework, which allows the CDS to provide services both to members and their families. That includes when they become veterans. Our programs, such as the Canadian Forces health identification card, which gets them discounts—we work with industry—is seamless between being a service member and a veteran.

Veterans Affairs committee  We do a community needs survey, not just of service members but their families—families in the wide definition—and veterans. We've just finished collecting the data, and are now in the process of processing the data and what it means. I don't have that version available for release, but I'll go back and we'll provide the clerk with the most recent one, which showed how we're meeting their needs.

Veterans Affairs committee  It asks questions along the lines of, what are your primary stressors? What are the quality of life factors? You could then deduce capacities in regard to programs that would address mental health. It doesn't to my knowledge...but there may in fact be a question. I had better watch myself on that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. We can provide the most recent survey.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a challenging question for me to answer because I think if I had the key I'd be brilliant. I've been in the military for 34 years and I have seen dramatic changes in culture and how we approach a wide range of activities. Our culture, as it does everywhere, reflects our society.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not a doctor, and I'm not the surgeon general, so it's not in my area of expertise. I would point out what Captain Langlois said. At the JPSU, we know the prognosis, in other words what the outcomes will be for the individual. We don't have an idea of their prescriptions or medications, or the specific medical limitations.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's between them and their doctor in a medical capacity, which is how I understood the question.