Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, thank you very much. I am honoured to be here in front of members of Parliament. This is not my first rodeo. I used to appear in front of something called SCONDVA back in the day. Then, I was wearing a uniform and I was actually in a building, which I kind of liked,

Veterans Affairs committee  Good.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll lead off and then I'll let Chris jump in, sir, if you don't mind. My predecessor was involved. I took over as chair after the regrettable falling apart of that initiative. From what I gather, there was a lack of agreement within the committee about standards. In a strange w

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll start off, and again I'll pass it to Chris. As I said, there are existing standards. The RCMP, for example, have a very good standard, but they don't deal as much with the mental health issues, obviously. What you need is sort of a.... I hate to use the word “synergy”. I

Veterans Affairs committee  Once again I'll go to Chris. Chris has worked with Germany and Ukraine. There are other countries that have valued our approach to doing things. I'll let Chris speak to that, because he's been there.

Veterans Affairs committee  Once again, I'll lead off. I come from a technical background—engineering—and open standards are what we want. What worries me is getting standards that are closed and just focused on one particular group. That's a challenge. We believe in open standards, where there's no “you h

Veterans Affairs committee  May I add something, Mr. Desilets?

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said, we need to have an open mind when it comes to standards. Let me repeat that what matters is mental health. I see soldiers with whom I have worked for many years who are not the same as they were 10 years ago, before they were deployed to Afghanistan or wherever. So i

Veterans Affairs committee  As you have heard, in Ukraine and Germany, they are used for therapeutic purposes, but that is another area. We sort of use them for therapeutic purposes, but the dogs are also owned by, and partners of, the veterans. They are battle buddies, as I said. As a veteran, I understa

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, it was. Chris, did you get that? You are exactly right, Mr. Desilets. Chris, it's the question of the standards. There are some people who want the standards to be closed rather than open. That's the issue of just wanting an obedient dog rather than a psychiatric service

Veterans Affairs committee  I may be accused of being disrespectful, but the answer is yes. I'm sorry; my sense of humour has been my downfall. You're absolutely right. The dog and the veteran become a team. We identify them as service dog teams. From the times I've been on deployment, I know that your t

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll answer the last question first. I believe I sent a copy of the standard, the Saskatchewan one, to MP Cathay Wagantall.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't remember. Did I send it to the clerk? I'll make sure.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll go through that email and make sure that Mr. Jolicoeur, who is your clerk, gets it. I will make sure of that.