Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen members of the Committee. I would like to make a few remarks before we get to a question period. Since the inception of the Canadian disability pension system at the end of World War I, a constant feature has been th

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was 58.7%.

Veterans Affairs committee  On review.

Veterans Affairs committee  The advocates are full-time government employees who used to belong to an independent agency, which was the Bureau of Pension Advocates. In the 1995 reform, the agency was brought into the department and they all work under the chief pensions advocate. There are 40 of them, and t

Veterans Affairs committee  To answer your last question, I'll say that yes, our number of board members is down. We do require some appointments. Representations have been made to the minister, and I am very confident that the complement will be rebuilt soon. In the interim, we've developed a number of s

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have an opinion. What I should tell you is the numbers. What I can tell you is what the vets want and get, and that's a hearing before a board member. I think the vet comes to this hearing well prepared. He comes with additional evidence, often on the advice of the advo

Veterans Affairs committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Perron.

Veterans Affairs committee  The first thing our client satisfaction survey showed is that people are looking for quick turnaround time when dealing with an administrative tribunal. Some cases require additional evidence, expertise, or research. So, we have to find ways of processing these files quickly. Unf

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  The solution is always to ensure that there is very tight operational oversight of the processing of cases. What we can say is that 90 per cent of our cases are adjudicated within 30 days. What happens to the other 10 p. 100 of files and why do they get bogged down? It's often be

Veterans Affairs committee  Personally, I've never seen that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Board Members are appointed by the Governor in Council. Therefore, by definition, the government appoints them. It is within the discretionary power and jurisdiction of the Governor in Council to do that. At the Board, there is now a process in place whereby individuals must qual

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't understand what you mean.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, absolutely not. We advertise in the newspapers, or publish notices in the Canada Gazette, and we also advertise on our own website, where people can print off a form directly from the site or call us to get one. They then have to fill out an application, which is not necessar