Thank you, sir.
As I described the administrative structures to you, for the most part, we are working at two levels. The first concern, of course, is the value of the pensions paid to our veterans and the coverage for illness. I believe that this is the major concern. Then we have all the various benefits provided to veterans, such as access to group retirement plans, payments to retired combatants and tax breaks. Probably efforts could be made in that regard.
Our second area of concern is recognition of certain theatres of operations and certain campaigns. As you know, history is not always very simple. At certain points in history, it is not an easy task to determine the exact status and the exact entitlements of people who took part in these operations. One example would be service in Northern Africa or far more difficult issues such as service during nuclear trials. According to some stakeholders, and according to people who took part in various operations, the state may not be going far enough in terms of recognizing service at certain points in history or during certain foreign operations or during certain times of crisis.
For example, we do recognize the theatres of operations of some battles in North Africa, but our methods of calculating entitlements do not necessarily work in the best interests of those who took part in the events. Allow me to explain. When you are in a theatre of operations, you are subject to what we call the principle of the single campaign. In other words, when your retirement entitlements are calculated, if you spent 90 days in the theatre of operations, you double these 90 days and you receive a total of 180 days. This principle is not recognized in certain theatres of operations, and veterans are fighting these mechanisms for determining entitlements.
To sum up, I would say that improvements will not be attained by looking for new mechanisms, but rather, by calling for larger pensions and better tax breaks. In the final analysis, we must determine how to make things easier for veterans from a financial point of view when they find themselves in difficulty. And finally, we want all theatres of operations to be recognized.
Once again, I was reading the document from Veterans Affairs about activities in 2008 and the record for that year. If the truth be told, it really is all about consolidating entitlements rather than looking for new possibilities.