Yes, absolutely.
I want to thank the member. I find it quite a privilege to be with the Veterans Affairs committee, but also to be with veterans. Some have travelled long distances to be here.
Yes, we will make sure the members are provided with some letter examples as well. Basically, the ombudsman told us that typically veterans were receiving a three-page letter, but there was not really a beginning, a middle, and an end, so it was really getting difficult for the veteran to understand what the decision was. So what we did was provide reasons for the decision.
The first thing is, what is the claim of the veteran? Sometimes it's not that easy to understand what the claim of the veteran is, because the veteran will express some challenges he's facing, but sometimes it's not that clear in regard to understanding what is the claim, the actual claim of the veteran. That's the first thing. Once we've identified the claim, what he wants to know is: “Do I get it or do I not get it? Do you recognize it?” That's the decision. The claim and the decision: one paragraph. So the veteran knows.
Whatever the decision is, the veteran needs to know what we used to make this decision. It's the key evidence. What did we base it on? Our officials have tables of disabilities, references, and guidebooks, so what did they refer to? The veterans have the right to know what was used to make the decision. Then, what is the reason that this decision was provided? As well, if the member is not happy with the decision, what can he do? He can call the office. There's eventually a tribunal, or if he wants to get a better understanding....
What I want to stress is that by making this relatively simple change, I think it's a change of.... What I realize is that sometimes with a veteran, it's not because he's not happy with the decision. It's because he doesn't understand why this decision was made and because he has the feeling that the department or the officials have not understood what the reasoning was behind his claim. That's why it gets so important.
Actually, I think this will reduce the number of decisions that are asked to be revisited. This will reduce the level of frustration amongst the veterans community, which has been observed in some cases where they don't understand why those decisions are rendered.