Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, honourable members, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I am Mark Gaillard. I am the executive officer and the national secretary, and the only full-time employee of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans’ Association. It is an honour for me to appear before

Public Safety committee  In the context of the RCMP Veterans' Association, I think we've been very careful to stay in our lanes. The part of the thinking that will go towards the set-up of a collective bargaining agent that will satisfy the members and satisfy the Supreme Court of Canada is really not an

Public Safety committee  I think what I drew from their appearance and from some of the answers that came from the table go to what we have been saying. We're not necessarily against reforms or improvements or enhancements to disability pension, benefits, etc. We don't have a real position on that becaus

Public Safety committee  I can only speculate, but that is the effect.

Public Safety committee  Very much so. I think this is what is causing the anxiety that's being expressed by our membership, both memberships of our association as well as former members of the RCMP. It's the lack of understanding and the uncertainty about what this means. With the time that we have to l

Public Safety committee  Absolutely, sir, yes.

Public Safety committee  It's uncertain. We are not, of course, the RCMP; we're simply the veterans' association. We are keenly interested in anything to do with treatment of veterans generally as, certainly, you are, sir. Also, we heard about the work this committee is doing with respect to studying PTS

Public Safety committee  The RCMP Superannuation Act is more than just the pension plan. It is also, under part two, the methodology by which the RCMP provides, through the Pension Act, compensation for the permanently disabled due to a workplace injury. It's not just about the pensioners. Some of the se

Public Safety committee  Due to the rapidity with which this process has evolved, there has not been a systematic way of, through routine methodology, informing all of our members and surveying them about their results. The RCMP conducted, through the SRR program last year, a survey on optional life ins

Public Safety committee  Do you mind if I just follow up a bit? This just struck me, as Ron was speaking. In terms of deployment, the RCMP is deployed 24-7. I always say that we are deployed 24-7: always deployed, never in garrison. There is no preparatory stage or training, then a deployment, and then

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, honourable members, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am Mark Gaillard. I am the executive officer and national secretary and the only full-time paid officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans' Association. I am also a member of the veterans affairs

Veterans Affairs committee  They phone us.

Veterans Affairs committee  Of course, I'm not in the RCMP. I'm in the RCMP Veterans' Association, and so I cannot speak specifically about how programs and operations within the force are proceeding. Anecdotally, there has been a lot of emphasis on the Road to Mental Readiness training, which was taken up

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a very hard question to answer, and I'm not sure I can, whether it's more, less, or the same. The kinds of people who are in the RCMP now are different from those who had been in many years before. Women have only been able to become members of the RCMP starting in 1974. T

Veterans Affairs committee  Are you talking about Veterans Affairs providing—