Veterans Affairs committee  No, what you would have to look at when you look at the amount of money that's been injected into Veterans Affairs is the cumulative amount. We do our budget on a yearly basis. In fact, given that the budget went up, may we say, by $300 million per year for five years, that is ac

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I would take a different view. And maybe I can just go back a little bit to the point that Mr. Casey raised. I did talk about two elements, the $220-odd million we've talked about and the transformation of the department and, as the honourable member has mentioned, th

Veterans Affairs committee  It would have been published in March 2010. The reports on plans and priorities are part of the government budgetary cycle. I don't have the exact date, but it would have been part of the spring budgetary cycle.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sorry, 2011. Je m'excuse.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, it would have been available at the time the government tabled its estimates in the House.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, Mr. Chair, I won't comment on that. All I can say is that the information was out there earlier and people choose to look at information at their convenience. So I won't speculate.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. There has been a gradual reduction in the number of Second World War veterans. The data are quite clear. And as I mentioned in my opening comments, for the first time in the history of the department, we have more modern-day veterans than traditional veterans. When you get

Veterans Affairs committee  I confirm that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. We're seeing a constant uptake in Canadian Forces, as we've indicated, of about 24%. That is an estimate based on the best information we have, working with our colleagues at DND and the Canadian Forces. As I mentioned, in some cases we're seeing lower mortality among war

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. The process we're using is actually a generally accepted business re-engineering model that has been well tested in North America. At the end of the day, it's about making it easier for a veteran to get the services and benefits he or she needs and trying to create what I wo

Veterans Affairs committee  I guess I can start and James can jump in. First of all, I won't comment on the budget of the ombudsman, because that's a separate entity. I think any comments regarding his budget should be directed towards the ombudsman.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would characterize the relationship with the ombudsman as positive. While the ombudsman may have different views or different opinions, at the end of the day, we're all there for veterans. The ombudsman is there to do the best he can for veterans. Our department is there to do

Veterans Affairs committee  I think we need to go back--

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.