Veterans Affairs committee  That was SNAG, but in fact we've said the same thing in the Gerontological Advisory Council as well. So the thought certainly applies, and there actually have been some legislative changes in that area with extending the...oh, I forget the name now, there are so many acronyms. When the veteran dies and if they're on VIP, for example, that benefit used to end after one year.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would recommend that, but I have to say I'm a little handicapped because I've been living in the United States for 13 years, where it would be harder to do than I anticipate it would be to do in Canada. I know there are huge provincial differences in nursing home care, as I understand, across Canada as well.

Veterans Affairs committee  We have not ever requested it. And I don't remember--it's been 13 years--anyone on the council ever suggesting that we get a written response to specific recommendations we made. I have, in a sense, requested a response from the minister, but all I get is the “we do a lot for veterans” kind of reply.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sorry, I'm on the wrong channel now. I'm picking up in French.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can hear you--I think.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we have the ear of the department. Again, I don't think that's the issue. From all the feedback I get from our interactions, right up to, say, Brian Ferguson, which is as high as I go—occasionally we get a visitor who is higher than Brian—and Darragh Mogan and that crowd, they all seem very sympathetic, and I mean 100% sympathetic, to what we are doing.

Veterans Affairs committee  By the department itself, yes, they are very much so.

Veterans Affairs committee  You're absolutely right. It is a huge issue. I think that problem is part of the reason there is an interest in expanding home care services rather than nursing home care. Thirteen years ago, when we established the council, the veterans organizations' representatives on the council were, as the academics would put it, wedded to the bed.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think that is true, and partly because there are probably a lot more head injuries and things like that.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it's different. I think the receiving climate in Canada and the U.S. is very positive for veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's legislative authority. These things cost money. For example, to provide an integrated service delivery system, if you followed our recommendations, will involve shuffling quite a bit of money and would require legislative authority to do that. So we've been giving them advice, and they've basically said, “We don't have the legislative authority.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, I'm 66 now and I feel it all day long.

Veterans Affairs committee  The literature on PTSD--most of the literature is American, although there's some great Canadian stuff coming out now--has noted there's quite a difference, say, between the effects of operational stress injuries, as we like to call them, depending on which war people served in.

Veterans Affairs committee  I should say this. I sort of feel ambiguous, because I have tried to represent the Gerontological Advisory Council, but my opinion on Ste. Anne's...you're talking about Ste. Anne's, I think? The council has not expressed a view on that. My personal opinion is that I would be sorry to see it go.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct. We also had recommendations for jacked-up health promotion—