Veterans Affairs committee  I think that the situation is the same everywhere in Canada. There is more interest in the ceremonies now than there was in previous years.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are two things we need to think about here. My colleague has talked about the “may” and the “shall” and how that may be interpreted. My counsel to you is that we need to be very careful. This legislation has been gone through by experts in the area of legality, and just c

Veterans Affairs committee  There's certainly no flexibility in the bill, but I just want to clarify that when the men and women who have served come back, they're not left to themselves. Many of them stay in the Canadian Forces and have the benefit of caseworkers in the Canadian Forces. For those who are m

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't speak for the Canadian Forces in terms of people being advised to retire or what have you. The Canadian Forces do have a universality of service, and when that universality of service cannot be met, they are medically released from the Canadian Forces. Also, while worki

Veterans Affairs committee  I'd just remind honourable members that the Government of Canada does provide for evaluation of all of its programs on a cyclical basis. All programs have to go through a formal evaluation process, and this program is no different. That is normally on a five-year cycle, because i

Veterans Affairs committee  I can respond to that one with a flat no. We have never done that. The payments for our veterans are statutory, and that's why we are here sometimes for supplementary estimates (A) and (B), or, as we are today, for supplementary estimates (C). I've been with the department for

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning. My name is Keith Hillier. I am the assistant deputy minister of service delivery at Veterans Affairs Canada. I am here with my colleague James Gilbert, the assistant deputy minister for policy, communications and commemoration. We welcome this

Veterans Affairs committee  No.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, they're contracted beds, of a total of about 10,000 roughly across Canada altogether.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, that's an issue that is beyond my scope to respond. It's an issue of a policy for government. I know the honourable member is referring to some issues around eligibility for post-Korean War veterans. That's a matter for government to address.

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, Mr. Chair, that's a policy issue. The Government of Canada has established programs for Canada's veterans. If there are to be any changes to those programs, then in fact that would be a matter for the government to deal with.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sorry, could you repeat the question?

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have that right at my fingertips. I'll certainly get back to you on that, as we do have the numbers.

Veterans Affairs committee  The forecasts are done with regard to the RPP. They're done about a year and a half before the time they actually make it through the cycle. With regard to how we ensure that we are going to have the money to—

Veterans Affairs committee  First of all, there are fewer veterans. We track this on a quarterly basis. As I noted in my opening remarks, we are seeing the number of Canadian Forces veterans increasing, passing for the first time the number of war veterans. I don't want to get into a lesson on the governm