Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, good morning. My name is Frédéric Charlet, controller general of the armed forces. I am the assistant to the executive director of the Office national des anciens combattants et victimes de guerre. She could

Veterans Affairs committee  If I understand correctly, you are wondering how one becomes a veteran in France. Is that what you meant by your question?

Veterans Affairs committee  If you have been deployed on external operations for more than 120 days, you can ask the Office national des anciens combattants et victimes de guerre for what we call a veteran's card. Having the card gives you the right to wear the Croix du Combattant. As soon as you have that

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, you can.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can show you mine.

Veterans Affairs committee  At the moment, the card does not come with a chip. The Office becomes responsible for the bearer, who, as a result, can get administrative, social and financial support. Having this card also allows the bearer to wear what we call the Croix du Combattant. That is an additional me

Veterans Affairs committee  You have to have spent 120 days on external operations, but I must make it clear that the concept of external operation has a legal basis. The Ministère des Armées determines whether the operation a person has taken part in is actually an external operation. In France, we have so

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, they do. Reservists can take part in an operation. They can also ask for the card as soon as they have chalked up 120 days in external operations.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, there is certainly a definite appetite for history in general and for last century's conflicts. It is true that the ceremonies and rallies that marked the commemoration of the centenary of the Great War have led to more discussion of veterans. Each combat generation also has

Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly. Today, in fact, you get me and not my executive director. That is because she is accompanying high school classes to the war cemetery at Notre-Dame de Lorette, to explain its significance to the students. In France, our office maintains 274 of them today. It is someth

Veterans Affairs committee  Let me add some specifics to what Commissioner Coyo has just said. We were talking earlier about the veteran's card. As soon as anyone carrying that card reaches 65, they become eligible for what we call a veteran's retirement allowance. Today, that allowance is 750 euros a year

Veterans Affairs committee  It is not a huge amount, I agree. You cannot live on 750 euros a year, but it is still something additional that you are eligible for only after 65.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. If they participated in the ONACVG operations, the veterans who left the service may, in cases of difficulty or distress, use the office's outreach services. The office has an agreement with the Service de santé des armées. In cases of medical or psychological distress, vete

Veterans Affairs committee  You are referring to the Indochina War period. To this day, the Office issues Viet Minh prisoner cards. You also mentioned Dien Bien Phu, where thousands of French soldiers were taken prisoner in 1954. Many of them were interned in Viet Minh camps. You may be aware of the detenti

Veterans Affairs committee  In France, nothing compares to what the U.S. and Canada have experienced with respect to the homeless. The regional network I mentioned earlier helps individuals in distress to find a local support service. Let me add one thing. It is important to realize that those regional ser