Veterans Affairs committee  I have seen reporting on that. It was a positive demonstration of the ability to process claims quickly. I'm not personally familiar with anyone who would fall under that categorization.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, may I respond?

Veterans Affairs committee  I'd be happy to respond to that. Thank you, MP. We have interacted with that office. They are a very dedicated team. Our position though is that it's also time to review the goals and scope of that office and to consider that an office of equity is what's truly needed. It's really relevant, considering the persistent concerns of women, francophones and LGBTQ2S+ members about service delivery by Veterans Affairs, and the need for the department to reflect National Defence's recognition of systemic discrimination and harassment.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not clear if that question was for us, at federal retirees.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can share those in a very general sense. I don't want to discuss specific cases in a public forum and provide too much detail. A thing that's worth noting is that delays that originate with Veterans Affairs at the time of application—for example, sex-specific issues—can compound inequitable health and well-being outcomes that were created by the service-related illness or injury in the first place.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Anthony offers his apologies for the technical difficulties, but he will certainly be attentively watching the proceedings today. Thank you, Jean-Guy, and thank you committee members for your time today. One of the key metrics used to assess service delivery performance and to serve as a proxy for fairness is disability and benefit application wait times.

Veterans Affairs committee  As a simple start, investing in the GBA+ strategy and ensuring that the work at the department is carried out retroactively and prospectively, I think, is the most critical thing, as is ensuring that the dollars we put into research on women veterans' and military women's service issues are allocated according to SAGER principles, sex and gender equity in research.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, MP Blaney, and thank you, Jean-Guy. In terms of plans for commemoration, we're aware of the 10-year strategic plan for commemoration that has come from VAC. That was informed by one of the advisory groups that one of our colleagues, Dr. Harris, is involved with. What we noted in reviewing the terms of reference and the records of discussion of the advisory group was that no discussion had come up about equity or about gender-based analysis in commemoration.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Jean-Guy. I think I'll respond by noting the statistic that we shared in the U.S. context. We know there's U.S. research that focuses on how women identify as veterans, and it's a different cultural context and lens, certainly. There is work that needs to be done in the Canadian context so that we better understand Canadian military and veteran women.

Veterans Affairs committee  From the evidence that we have seen in terms of the reporting that's come out of Veterans Affairs just on the backlog, we know there are longer wait times for women. I can pull those statistics up. There are differences as well, and you're familiar with them, MP Desilets, on anglophone and francophone applications.

Human Resources committee  It would be part of the strategy. It's something to recognize that in Canada not all municipalities are created equal. It comes back to what I said to Ms. Blaney about the veterans independence program and what the discussion focused on earlier. There are great examples of innovative or sensible programs and use of resources to ensure that seniors' care needs are met in rural communities.

Human Resources committee  The veterans independence program is something that's accessible to veterans who are eligible for it, obviously. It does some things quite well, and in other ways it could be improved. Obviously, scaling that with our geography and the numbers of people involved would be a challenge.

Human Resources committee  Yes.