Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.

Veterans Affairs committee  Go ahead, James.

Veterans Affairs committee  I do have it.

Veterans Affairs committee  So far this fiscal year 2011-2012, from April until now, we have 143 projects that have been approved in that program.

Veterans Affairs committee  The first thing they will see on the website, even before sending in their applications, is a very clear view of what benefits are available to them, depending on if they are Canadian Forces members, traditional war veterans, or merchant navy. That's the first window. Then, we h

Veterans Affairs committee  The benefit of the doubt is enshrined in legislation, which is—unless there is any contradictory evidence—that the benefit of the doubt will be in favour of the veteran.

Veterans Affairs committee  What I'm saying—

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. Statutory would mean that the Parliament would have approved the program through legislation or regulation. Quasi-statutory means that every year we have to go through a Treasury Board approval process whereby we will provide our forecasts and they will be approved. That's w

Veterans Affairs committee  When we go to the Treasury Board, we ask for an amount of money for each program.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's based on our best forecasts of the number of veterans who will be using these programs and the amounts of money we are expecting them to get. It's a forecast, and we have very good forecasts. As a matter of fact, over the last five years our forecasts have been less than 2

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not a lawyer, so I will not try to answer a lawyer. What I would say is that it's in the legislation and the regulation that once you qualify for a benefit, the money will be there. In that sense, it's not optional.

Veterans Affairs committee  My answer to this question will be that you are well aware of what departments have been asked to do in the deficit reduction action plan. I would tell you that we have very qualified manpower, as you very well know, in Charlottetown and across the country, who have skills that c

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for recognizing that some things are improving in the department. We have a very dedicated workforce, and frankly, as the minister said earlier, the transformation and the improvements that we need to bring to the department stem from suggestions from our own staff, our

Veterans Affairs committee  The veterans' benefits, the programs and services, are quasi-statutory. That's a complicated term that means basically once a year we have to go through the Treasury Board to get approval for our forecast. Because of the nature of the quasi-statutory, once you are eligible—and th

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much for asking this question. Let me give you an update. The scientific committee was set up a few months ago. There have already been two meetings, one at which the minister has clearly laid out his expectations of the committee. As to your second point, you wa