Thank you, Mr. Desilets.
As a matter of principle, we are in favour of a process to automatically approve benefit claims, which would certainly have advantages, but also drawbacks. Keep in mind that the first goal is to help veterans reintegrate into civilian life, so every effort must be made to make that transition easier. It is about more than just clearing the backlog.
In the nineties, I was head of the bureau of pensions advocates at Veterans Affairs Canada. The backlog was pretty sizable back then. In my experience, many cases are similar. For instance, a lot of veterans may have hearing problems from exposure to high noise levels. In the course of a military mission, they can certainly be exposed to explosions, engine noise and so on.
We think it's important to take a step back and determine whether the impairment is likely attributable to service. Consider soldiers who jump out of aircraft or tanks and who go on to have knee problems. What would be worse is to grant the disability pension and, then, reverse the decision. That would involve Veterans Affairs Canada taking back the money it had paid out, so that is an important consideration.
With all due respect for veterans, we recommend that the department carry out pilot projects on a given disability. Another option would be to grant a pension benefit immediately on the basis of the facts and to carry out a pilot project on the increases afterwards. That would reduce the risk that the department would have to recover money that had already gone out to veterans.
I'm not sure whether that answers your question.