Veterans Affairs committee  Board Members are appointed by the Governor in Council. Therefore, by definition, the government appoints them. It is within the discretionary power and jurisdiction of the Governor in Council to do that. At the Board, there is now a process in place whereby individuals must qual

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't understand what you mean.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, absolutely not. We advertise in the newspapers, or publish notices in the Canada Gazette, and we also advertise on our own website, where people can print off a form directly from the site or call us to get one. They then have to fill out an application, which is not necessar

Veterans Affairs committee  He is represented...

Veterans Affairs committee  He is represented by an advocate from the Bureau of Pensions Advocates. They are public servants who work full time for the Veterans Affairs Department. That program has been in place for 90 years. Advocates would represent veterans returning from the World War I in their dealing

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a budgetary matter. In actual fact, I am paid by the Treasury Board, acting on behalf of the Governor in Council. From a financial standpoint, I imagine my salary is paid out of the budget of the Veterans Affairs Department, but ultimately, it comes from the Governor in Co

Veterans Affairs committee  No. He simply wanted a copy of my opening statement.

Veterans Affairs committee  You're talking about the number of lawyers who were hired. There are six of them. I wasn't sure. But I can tell you we have hired six lawyers.

Veterans Affairs committee  I don't have an opinion. What I should tell you is the numbers. What I can tell you is what the vets want and get, and that's a hearing before a board member. I think the vet comes to this hearing well prepared. He comes with additional evidence, often on the advice of the advo

Veterans Affairs committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Perron.

Veterans Affairs committee  The first thing our client satisfaction survey showed is that people are looking for quick turnaround time when dealing with an administrative tribunal. Some cases require additional evidence, expertise, or research. So, we have to find ways of processing these files quickly. Unf

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  The solution is always to ensure that there is very tight operational oversight of the processing of cases. What we can say is that 90 per cent of our cases are adjudicated within 30 days. What happens to the other 10 p. 100 of files and why do they get bogged down? It's often be

Veterans Affairs committee  It was 58.7%.