Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. I'm now taking the view that we have the authority to do it. I may turn out to be wrong, and we may have to come back and amend the statute to do it.

Veterans Affairs committee  I am acting chair because the previous chair's term ended. I've been filling the duties since April of last year and will continue to fill them until the government completes an appointment process with respect to the chair's position.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can only speak to the things that are within the lane of the way the board does its operations. I think there are potential efficiencies to be gained with respect to video conferencing that I definitely think could be processed. There are things that would facilitate a greater

Veterans Affairs committee  I was first appointed in 2009. I left after a year to do some other things and then was appointed as deputy on July 1, 2014.

Veterans Affairs committee  Through a competitive process.

Veterans Affairs committee  Can I just add one thing?

Veterans Affairs committee  I'd really appreciate it if you would all attend our hearings. If you contact my office, we'll make an arrangement for you individually. Our boardrooms are very small, so it has to be one at a time. We do give the veterans notice that guests will be attending. Although they are p

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we are. We were factored into the last report on service delivery that was made. Now, we were positioned, I think, in the overall cycle and so we had a small portion of that.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, we are not a respondent in those cases as a general rule. We appeared in a case where VRAB was actually named as a party, in January, and I directed our counsel to appear. That claim was dismissed.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not aware of that. I'm not privy to those determinations.

Veterans Affairs committee  The training takes three forms: the initial intake is done through a combination of instruction, textbook, and then work performance exercises. The second form of training is in more of a conference format, where we bring people in who are experts in particular fields to speak t

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, at all three stages. On initial intake, the training period is about eight weeks long. There are both medical and legal there. At our conferences, there are medical and legal training. Then, on the individual occasions, depending upon the subject, it will be medical or legal

Veterans Affairs committee  I want to improve the efficiency of the handling of files and the handling of paper, so I can keep on crunching turnaround times. There comes a time, when you get up into the 90% on a turnaround time for a decision, that's when you begin to think about whether you can drive that

Veterans Affairs committee  I guess there are a couple of things with respect to the VRAB Act that I think could be improved. We need to build upon technology. Right now, video conferencing is an elective process. I don't know whether or not we could be more efficient if we did all these hearings by video