National Defence committee  Summer jobs for reservists is very important. If we offer a three-week course to a reservist and he doesn't have a job to come back to, he will probably not take the course. We have to offer him a job for the whole summer. You might say it is a matter of budget, and I completely

National Defence committee  I will answer that question and then hand things over to John. Let's not forget that reservists are citizen soldiers. After staying with the same unit for three years, a reservist acquires skills they can carry with them for life. It is beneficial to Canada. We have to take a go

National Defence committee  I must admit that things have improved when it comes to individual equipment. Twenty or 25 years ago, the equipment we had was outdated compared to what our militia, our reservists have now. It is more the training equipment that is lacking. The Bison or Grizzly armoured vehicles

National Defence committee  As we have seen in the past, reservists are often deployed following natural disasters. There was the ice storm in 1998. Just a month before that, when I was chair of the Council of Honorary Colonels of Canada, during a discussion with the defence staff, I was told that we would

National Defence committee  I completely agree. At this time, candidates fill out the same forms, whether they are applying for the reserve or regular force. That is not the problem. The problem has more to do with the medical exam and the security check. If we could solve that problem, we could easily enro

National Defence committee  That's right. It is important that the reserves be allowed to control the budget allocated by the House of Commons and decide how it is used.

National Defence committee  I will respond first, and then I'm going to ask my colleague to also respond to that question. I am partly responsible. At the time of the transfer, I was Chief of Staff of the Army Reserve, and I agreed to the transfer of medical exams. I was promised, at a time when it was rea

National Defence committee  John, do you want to respond to that?

National Defence committee  First of all, it is important to talk about the evolution of the militia. During my years of service, I always referred to this unit as the militia. Now it is called the Army Reserve. We could debate that for quite some time, but it's a question of semantics. Until 1970, the mi

National Defence committee  The reserve force has always been and must continue to be an important national institution that is well integrated in the community and helps to shape better Canadians. It already has certain operational roles, such as Arctic response company groups, which effectively address c

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, I am Brigadier-General Pierre Boucher, and I am the president of Réserve 2000 Québec, which I am representing here today. I am here with my colleague, Lieutenant-Colonel John Selkirk, who represents Reserves 2000. Réserve 2000 Québec's mission is