Veterans Affairs committee  I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I don't have that kind of resolution in terms of the numbers. Suffice it to say that there have been complaints that have come our way from veterans and from civilians. With the town halls that I've done in the New Brunswick area in and around Gagetown, I'

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the whole idea of long-term care and how long the commitment should be to look after our veterans perplexes me. I know the argument has been made that constitutionally it's a provincial responsibility, but we saw in Ontario that the facilities for psychiatric treatment

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much, sir.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the ones that jump out are the academic institutions. Indeed, we found somebody at the University of Western Ontario who has been funded for a study into homeless veterans. Academic institutions are the ones that jump out. What I couldn't really comment on is in rega

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I think in many ways we do tie in. We participate in boards and symposiums and there is an exchange of information. What I find disturbing is that a study as comprehensive as the ALS study that the United States military did was basically denied. There's a similar st

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I think the more leadership that is exercised in terms of being proactive in trying to secure peace of mind for our veterans once they've made the ultimate sacrifice, the better, yes indeed.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, that's exactly it. It's a continuum starting with the caseworker. I can give an example of an 80-year-old veteran who had to get three quotes to send to Charlottetown for an orthopedic toilet seat. It was $300. It's something that the case manager should have been able

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I couldn't agree more, hence the recommendations in the proposed drafting instructions for the legislation. I suggest that it should be a seven-year non-renewable term so you don't worry about where your next paycheque will be coming from.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I haven't thought it through in that kind of detail. I would be completely comfortable. I think that in the final analysis there has to be a working relationship, a chemistry, between the minister in the first instance at that time and.... But most importantly, I think

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I couldn't comment on the political will. What I can say is that more research is required. The University of Alberta is actively working now on establishing an academic chair to bring together all of the academic institutions in Canada that do research that might be

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I couldn't argue with that point. I felt particularly empowered by my order in council, in that my annual report was to be tabled by the minister, at his convenience. It's really the passage of information that's important. What I feel very strongly is that the ombuds

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I would like to reflect the optimism that the member had regarding the new Veterans Charter and the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman. In my early days, I praised the collaborative approach that parliamentarians took to getting the new Veterans Charter through. What

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I would have to say that the problem with the department is a lack of leadership. I say that because I firmly believe that culture is leader-driven. It's not driven by your HR. It's not driven by posters on the wall. I think it was George Hees who used to go around t

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the only thing I have is the order in council, which basically told me what to do: I was a special adviser to the minister. There was no requirement for any kind of reporting, short of my annual report, which the minister would table at his convenience in Parliament. T

Veterans Affairs committee  No. It was brought to the leadership level with a view to trying to get some of these things moving within the department.