NDDN Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on National Defence met in camera at 3:35 p.m. this day, in Room 362, East Block, the Chair, Rick Casson, presiding.

The Chair presented the First Report from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure which read as follows:

Your Subcommittee met on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, to consider the business of the Committee and agreed to make the following recommendations:

1. That the Standing Committee on National Defence undertake a study on health services provided to Canadian Forces personnel with an emphasis on post-traumatic stress disorder and that it be the first order of business of the Committee in this session;

2. That the evidence and documentation received by the Standing Committee on National Defence during the Second Session of the 39th Parliament in relation to its study of the health services provided to Canadian Forces personnel with an emphasis on post-traumatic stress disorder be taken into consideration by the Committee in this session and that all in camera testimony given in relation to this study in the Second Session of the 39th Parliament be treated as in camera testimony given during the Second Session of the 40th Parliament;

3. That the Auditor General be invited to appear before the Standing Committee on National Defence in order to discuss the military equipment procurement process at the Department of National Defence;

4. That the Department of National Defence be requested to provide a briefing on the security preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games;

5. That, preliminary to the Committee undertaking any study on Arctic sovereignty, the Department of National Defence be requested to provide a briefing on how the mandate of the Department, in the Canadian Arctic, has been affected by climate change.

It was agreed, — That the First Report of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on National Defence be amended by adding, after the words “affected by climate change”, the following:

“6. That the Committee undertake a study on Arctic sovereignty and that the Committee travel to the Canadian Arctic as part of this study;

7. That the Department of National Defence be requested to provide regular briefings to the Standing Committee on the status and progress of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan”.

It was agreed, — That the First Report of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on National Defence, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That, in relation to its study on health services provided to Canadian Forces personnel with an emphasis on post-traumatic stress disorder, the following people appear before the Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) on Wednesday, February 25, 2009:

— A representative of the Office of Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Forces (CF), and

— Brigadier General Hilary Jaeger, Commander, Canadian Forces Health Services Group and Surgeon General .

At 4:08 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.