Veterans Affairs committee  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Pierre Mallette, the National President of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, a CSN affiliate. Since 1986, I have worked as a corrections officer at Donnacona Institution, a federal maximum security penitentiary in Quebec.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. First, it will always be difficult for corrections officers, because their occupation is not well known. I don't know how many 7-year-olds or 8- or 9-year-olds might tell their parents they would like to be corrections officers. On the other hand, the

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. We have done studies of the physical and mental health of our corrections officers. We can send you all the necessary documents. Some research has been done on this subject. In fact, in the document we submitted today, Dr. Beltrami talks about these conditions.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. In the document we distributed today, there are comparisons with Vietnam War veterans, in terms of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Our numbers are higher. Don't forget that our officers make a career of this and that exposes them to all sorts of incidents. In our heads, we

Veterans Affairs committee  Our members often have to deal with these kinds of situations.

Veterans Affairs committee  Okay. You have to understand that since 2005, the Income Tax Act has allowed us to ask for up to 2.33% per year of service. That act now covers corrections officers. Since 2002, the union has been trying to raise the annual percentage and have the pension plan changed. When tha

Veterans Affairs committee  When they changed the law to 2.33% in 2005, it was not just for correctional officers. These other groups were there too. They had the chance to get the same thing as we got. When you compare the work that a correctional officer is doing inside the institution, we're sitting with

Veterans Affairs committee  At present, a corrections officer can retire after 25 years' service. They will then receive 2% per year of service, so 50% of their salary.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  There is no maximum, you can work more than 35 years, but after 35, you stop paying into the pension plan.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, and after 35 years, you get 70% of your salary.

Veterans Affairs committee  We will be pleased to provide you with that, Mr. Gaudet.

Veterans Affairs committee  Maybe I don't want to go back to 1966, because I was born in 1964.

Veterans Affairs committee  You are from the Liberal Party. Our union has been trying since 2002 to negotiate improvements to our pension plan. In 2005, your government amended that act that allows a pension to go from 2% to 2.33%. I repeat, we would like to find the forum where we could explain our views:

Veterans Affairs committee  I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to come here this morning. If we had one thing to ask of you, it would be, please, try to find a way of including us in the bill. We aren't there. We would also like to send a message to all of the parties. We have been wo