Veterans Affairs committee  If you do not mind, I will be speaking French. In all the professions in Quebec, the role of the association is sometimes included with the professional body. So, of course, there are associations. The main role of the professional body is to protect the public. But the associat

Veterans Affairs committee  The main role of the Ordre is to protect the public. One of the ways of doing that is to ensure that our members have the skills required. We do that in two ways. We have input regarding the initial training for future psychologists at university. We approve university programs.

Veterans Affairs committee  If I may, I will complete what I was saying, because I was coming to continuing education. Once a psychologist is practising, how does he or she go about acquiring new skills? Let us say that a psychologist's main training is in the treatment of depression, and that he or she mus

Veterans Affairs committee  I would like to add something. Accessibility is definitely a problem. We do have psychologists distributed throughout Quebec, and we are pleased about that, but accessibility nevertheless remains a genuine problem. Earlier, in her opening remarks, Ms. Lemieux referred to an appro

Veterans Affairs committee  Not really. We issue professional practice licenses. We are a professional body and not an association.

Veterans Affairs committee  I wanted to add that the research component is very interesting. Research is being led by universities in clinics where services are offered. So there is a synergy between the universities and the service providers. It would be very profitable to know more about veterans, the pat

Veterans Affairs committee  There are two questions. First, how appealing the profession is, and then, how appealing veterans as a client group would be to those entering the profession. It is not difficult to attract doctoral candidates in the area of psychology. That is not the problem. As we mentioned in

Veterans Affairs committee  No, I didn't say that--or I don't remember.

Veterans Affairs committee  We do. There is a Canada-wide organization for all professional psychological bodies which does hold meetings twice a year. That could be an interesting contact for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Affairs committee  It is probable, but we have no information on that.

Veterans Affairs committee  How many served in the military? Is that what you said?

Veterans Affairs committee  We don't know, sir.

Veterans Affairs committee  The cultural aspect is very important. I'll continue in French, if you don't mind. Once psychologists start providing services, they are confronted with this cultural reality. That is when training occurs. The issue is how to draw psychologists in this service network. Initial

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm aware that there are some in Quebec City, at Valcartier, but I can't tell you the exact names.

Veterans Affairs committee  I cannot provide specific information with respect to services offered to veterans. When you compare Quebec to other Canadian provinces, psychologists in Quebec are far better integrated within public health care networks and schools. The two departments—the Department of Health