National Defence committee  That's a great question. I think different NGOs have experienced different things. We did certainly find challenges, particularly during the pandemic, with people being able to deploy, with vaccination rates and all of that in the early days. In many cases, people want to support

National Defence committee  I think it depends on the role. I think it's cross-training. I don't think it's either/or; I think it's both, and training together using specific scenarios. Many of our longer-term NGOs already have a history with the military, dating back to the first and second world wars, o

National Defence committee  I would agree with that, Mr. Tolmie. That's why I often say that it seems that the military is the first line of defence, because it's boots on the ground. As some of my colleagues have mentioned, it is possible that there are specialized skills that may require the military, bu

National Defence committee  I also attended the Canadian Emergency Management College, and that was the advantage, that you can train with military, NGOs and municipal people all at the same time, and all receive the same training.

National Defence committee  I would say that it's certainly continued investment in NGOs. I mentioned in my opening remarks that some of our NGOs have received funding through the humanitarian workforce program. That's only guaranteed until March 31, 2023, so in order to maintain that.... I think it is abou

National Defence committee  That's a great question, Mr. Motz. Let me just say, from the NGO perspective, one of the rationales for the development of the Emergency Management NGO Consortium is that we are not duplicating services and, in fact, are working together. One example I would give you is back wh

National Defence committee  I'm happy to answer that, Mr. Motz. One thing I can tell you from my experience is that most of the NGOs, as well as other organizations active in disasters, work under the incident command system. We develop that structure with liaison officers who continually coordinate on the

National Defence committee  It's interesting because most of the NGOs that we have experience with and that are part of our consortium have their everyday things that they would provide, everything from donations management to psychosocial support, food, hydration, all those kinds of things, but often they

National Defence committee  That's a great question. They're doing various things, such as assisting in long-term care facilities. It can be things like backing up some of the non-specialty jobs. It's not necessarily always providing nurses or health care professionals, but feeding residents. It's helping

National Defence committee  Thanks, Mr. May. I appreciate the question. It's a great question One thing we often say as NGOs is that if we're not needed, that's great, but we would hate to find out that there was something we could have done where somebody just didn't know to engage with the NGO community.

National Defence committee  Thanks very much. I appreciate the opportunity. First, I'd like to acknowledge that this is sacred land, upon which I am privileged to live and work. I recognize the deep connection and the long-standing relationship between indigenous peoples and the land of London, Ontario. Th