Veterans Affairs committee  I just want to reinforce what the minister indicated. You'll be aware that the department runs 10 operational stress injury clinics coast to coast, which are outpatient. In Ste. Anne's Hospital in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, we have a residential program, and we fund veter

Veterans Affairs committee  We can't put those amounts in until they're approved. We can't put any of the pension for life funds into the plans until they've been legislated and we have the Treasury Board submissions. Then we put them in following those approvals.

Veterans Affairs committee  Can I just add, and say exactly with regard to the pension for life, that now we will have that monthly connection between the department and those new Veterans Charter veterans. For those under the old Pension Act prior to April 1, 2006, we would know about your 98-year-old ve

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have that detail with me, but our officials who are appearing right afterwards will have that information.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sir, again, the detail can be provided by the officials right after me. With this pension for life, we're kind of doing what we've done for the education and training benefit and the career transition benefit, which is leveraging both the face-to-face contact and digital. We're

Veterans Affairs committee  It's an increase in the amount of money going out the door to veterans, especially those with serious injuries and those who were injured earlier in their careers.

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, I don't want to go outside of my lane, having worn the uniform before. It's General Vance's lane, but I would say that what he's coming to grips with is the fact that, for some illnesses and injuries—and you have a medical background—the access to medical care, if you're o

Veterans Affairs committee  I can also add that I appreciate the work you are doing in studying aboriginal veterans' issues, especially as many of our veterans, after extraordinary service in the Canadian Armed Forces, return to their communities which are often remote, and therefore the difficulty of provi

Veterans Affairs committee  What's terrific is the fact that veterans are getting over the stigma and are coming forward and asking for help. To see upwards of 20% to 30% more veterans coming forward and presenting is terrific. We're in a catch-up game. We're trying to catch up, and that's where the backlo

Veterans Affairs committee  Right. We're looking for the right Canadians to be able to bring into the front offices. I was just in Brandon and Shilo last week, again looking for folks to be able to serve in Brandon and on Base Shilo with the right skills. However, the other thing we've learned just over

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct, Minister. In some cases, we're waiting for the veteran to determine who will be the caregiver, and then we get the appropriate information—banking information—so that the benefit goes directly to that caregiver. We're in a transition in that regard.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thanks for the question, Madam, which really focuses on the SISIP program in the Canadian Armed Forces. Again, under the Veterans Act, the minister is responsible for those veterans who have an injury attributable to service. Therefore, as of April 1, 2019, we'll be working with

Veterans Affairs committee  The SISIP program continues and that's why we're working very closely with the Canadian Armed Forces on the “closing the seam” effort. We want to make the whole transition much smoother while folks are in uniform, and we want to get the decisions while they are in uniform, so the

Veterans Affairs committee  My understanding is that we are still working hard to achieve 25:1. We owe that to veterans. We owe that to our employees. The Minister and I were in Edmonton, and I had an opportunity to talk to our staff out there. We have some case managers who are in the upper thirties, and

Veterans Affairs committee  Sir, the costing that we go through is with the Department of Finance. This also goes to your previous question. We rely on the actuaries. The actuaries in the office of the chief actuary do the costings for us based upon the best information they have at the time and the project