Veterans Affairs committee  There are probably a number of reasons why they might be turned down. I think it's fair to say there are certain conditions that are more likely to be accepted than others, because we know there's more prevalence of those types of illnesses or disabilities coming out of the military context.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.

Veterans Affairs committee  That is on the applications where we have rendered decisions, so that would be on the 20,712, for example, on the disability awards.

Veterans Affairs committee  They're in the process. They may have been withdrawn, but most of them would still be in some stage of process.

Veterans Affairs committee  It varies, depending on the nature of the claim. But we do have service standards, and for a disability claim the service standard is 24 weeks from the time of the application until completion of the decision.

Veterans Affairs committee  Everyone reflected in this chart is receiving services from Veterans Affairs. In the case of traditional veterans, it would primarily be a disability pension. In the case of modern veterans, it would be a mix of those who had received disability pensions prior to the new Veterans Charter coming into force.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  All of the case examples we've gone though here are of veterans who actually have been released from the service. But if we take the scenario of a member who's currently serving and was injured in Afghanistan, what happens is that we receive notification when this kind of injury occurs, and we have a casualty protocol and we make contact with that veteran and the family to make ourselves known to them.

Veterans Affairs committee  Rehabilitation, by its very nature, is about working with an individual and their family, and certainly recognizing that the family needs to be part and parcel of any kind of rehabilitation moving forward. Case management provides that kind of stabilizing influence, that one point of contact, where the case manager can work with their client, work with external community resources, work with professionals involved in the care of the veteran and the family, and help them navigate through the system, advocate for them in times when that is necessary, help them establish goals, and help them determine what kinds of intervention need to be in place to get them help.

Veterans Affairs committee  In terms of the actual service provision, we certainly have capacity across the country to engage service providers, whether they're providing medical care or psychological counselling. I think you've had a good appreciation from Mr. Clorey around the importance of the infrastructure he's helping to build so we have the mental health capacity to work with these clients, whether it's counselling, family counselling, social work.

Veterans Affairs committee  The charter was implemented in April 2006, so we're really just three years in. That's new, in terms of our government programming, so I think we still have a lot to learn in terms of what kinds of outcomes we're going to achieve with what's here. It's an excellent package that we have, in terms of moving forward, and as Darragh mentioned, there's been a government commitment that it's a living charter.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, there is, certainly. We have a comprehensive outreach strategy we've implemented, which includes taking advantage of every opportunity we have to provide briefings to members while they are still in service and veterans groups while they are out. At SCAN seminars and any general kinds of meetings, we take that opportunity.

Veterans Affairs committee  I was just going to indicate, as well, that we also provide a transition interview to all releasing members, as they transition out. So again, that's another checkpoint for us to provide the information. We also have the opportunity to publish in a lot of CF publications, which again affords us the occasion to convey the information about the programs.

Veterans Affairs committee  The new Veterans Charter, as I've mentioned, is really about a very comprehensive approach to meeting the needs of veterans and their families. To make a comparison between a disability pension and the disability award, per se, is probably not a fair comparison. What we really ought to compare is the disability pension and then the entire suite of programs that now is there, which offers security and opportunity and really is targeted at wellness, investing money in terms of achieving wellness types of outcomes, and offering people security and opportunity—the security, really, of knowing those programs are there if something does occur.

Veterans Affairs committee  The job placement program is targeted at those who are voluntarily releasing, people who generally choose to leave. I can say that there's a great deal of interest in the community at large to hire ex-military. I think they're well recognized for the skills they bring and the leadership they can offer.