Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct.

Veterans Affairs committee  It would be difficult to discern that because the one thing we cannot control is applications coming in the front door. If indeed applications carry on at a 90% increase, and if we template that forward.... Again, I'm working with the central agencies to template that out into th

Veterans Affairs committee  We're not actually building or doing construction. Again, our colleagues in Employment and Social Development Canada, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, are supporting various initiatives like the multifaith housing initiative. The Homes for Heroes in Calgary,

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct. Of the 43 projects over this past couple of years, 12 have been focused on homelessness, whether it be the Old Brewery Mission, Shepherds of Good Hope in Toronto and so on across the country. Again, it is working in partnership with the communities, because we kno

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, switching the colour of money, if I could, we were just talking about operations money before. Now we're talking about quasi-stat money. With regard to the education and training benefit, the Government of Canada came out in 2018 with the education and training benefit.

Veterans Affairs committee  As we move forward in dealing with the backlog, and as the minister has directed the department, it is the number one priority. As I mentioned before, addressing the backlog, recognizing that the intake is beyond our control, is a multifaceted approach. One is to hire and train n

Veterans Affairs committee  It was at the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research conference in, I believe, November 2016, when the previous minister, Minister Hehr, laid out the policy, which was that—again, in response to a physician writing a prescription for a veteran if they believe

Veterans Affairs committee  We are not constrained by fiscal pressure. What is terrific about the quasi-stat, as the minister indicated, is that whether 10 veterans present or 10,000 veterans present, it is a statutory obligation.

Veterans Affairs committee  In this case, as always, it's about the well-being of the veteran.

Veterans Affairs committee  In terms of the overall direction, we knew, given the direction that came from the minister in, I think, September 2017 to do a review—

Veterans Affairs committee  The direction we had was that the minister undertook to do a review of the policy. My understanding is that it came back to the House of Commons and that no family member who was in a federal institution was to receive treatment and that—

Veterans Affairs committee  The notion was that we were going to implement the policy as stated. With regard to that, the treatment is for the benefit of the veteran, and if treating the family assists the veteran, then we would include the family.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll ask Rick Christopher to wade in here, but again, the policy has not changed. What we have done is ensured that in the interpretation of “short term”—because that's what the policy says—we've been as flexible and compassionate as we can be. Rick, do you want to add?

Veterans Affairs committee  The challenge always is that each veteran's family's situation is unique and it is difficult to establish consistency when, again, from a privacy standpoint, we cannot get in between that practitioner and the veteran, his or her circumstance, or the impact of the family around su

Veterans Affairs committee  Again, we are relying upon the professional mental health caregiver across the country, be it a psychiatrist, psychologist or mental health nurse, as well as the operational stress injury clinics that have that integrated multi-faceted team. That's who is actually providing the r