Veterans Affairs committee  I would say that the common denominator for all the folks we want to hire is empathy—folks who have real people skills. As the minister indicated, their whole job is about the care of our veterans, compassion, and respect. With regard to case managers, we're looking for social

Veterans Affairs committee  I want to clear up a misconception. The real purpose of reconnecting with veterans on a regular basis is to see what kind of conditions they are facing, because a lot of the serious injuries don't get better, and in many cases they get worse. The purpose of the follow-up question

Veterans Affairs committee  Minister, you're spot on. I would just say, again, this is in response to something that the ombudsman had put forward after doing a lot of research and consultation. We're really pleased to be able to deliver this as quickly as possible in the mandate. It's going to have a hug

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, thank you very much for the question. Again, we really appreciate the Auditor General's report and recommendations. Since that report, the department has moved forward on opening new operational stress injury clinics alongside of the Canadian Armed Forces, not not o

Veterans Affairs committee  I will also say that this is a work in progress. In partnership with the regional health authorities, our ability to engage the right practitioners and in the right numbers is different in every part of the country.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's their saying that. It's their surveys. Reporting to Bernard Butler here, we have a Fulbright scholar, Dr. David Pedlar, with one of the best research cells, I would say, in the nation, looking at the human dimension of service. That's obviously with our allies, because he

Veterans Affairs committee  A recommendation by this committee in the past was for the electronic transfer of records. The Canadian armed forces is digitizing its records to ensure that there is a seamless connection to Veterans Affairs. Over to you, Michel.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thanks for the point, madam. All I can do, following this, is to drill down a little bit more into that specific example in Saskatchewan. We do leverage the operational stress injury clinics across the country, and we do have practitioners. Whether they're connected by telemedici

Veterans Affairs committee  Ma'am, this is a challenge, because a lot of our men and women in uniform are young, they are resilient, and they think they are indestructible. If you have young kids who are in their teens and twenties, they're indestructible. I've been parachuting with troops, and I know the

Veterans Affairs committee  I would like to say more on these broad changes in culture and processes regarding psychological injuries. We have an expeditious process in place to help men or women who are suffering from a psychological injury due to a training accident, be it during a deployment to Somalia,

Veterans Affairs committee  There was a conference here this week, two days ago in Ottawa. All of the participants in that pilot project were present. A lot of lessons were learned by all of the participants and all of those lessons were shared. The department's objective is to bridge the gaps, to have a st

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I'll say a few words and then ask Bernard to add. We've got two acts and regulations that provide services. Until March 31, 2006, if a veteran came forward with an injury or illness, they were covered under the Pension Act. For any injury the department became engage

Veterans Affairs committee  The Canadian Armed Forces protocol is to give the members of the Canadian Armed Forces the NDI 75 ID card. However, the Canadian Forces decided to change the practice last month and to replace it with the CFOne card. The card was designed by the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare

Veterans Affairs committee  The Veterans Ombudsman, Mr. Parent, has made a recommendation on this. He indicated that it would be simpler and easier if there were one ID card for all veterans, especially in cases where they need health services. We carried out a study on this program and made a recommendatio

Veterans Affairs committee  In the context of the strategy I mentioned, we changed the system with regard to the proof to be submitted. I am going to ask Mr. Doiron to explain the situation.