Okay. I ask because many of the veterans I'm speaking to don't get timely service. They get denied, delayed and then, the term is, they die, because they've been dealing with VAC for so long. Prior to this meeting, I had a conversation...and I'm a vet who's been denied services, so I understand.
When I hear my colleagues from across the aisle talk about the transition and how nice it is for veterans.... A lot of veterans, when they walk out of the military, don't know what they're going into. They don't get service. They get a half-day, a cup of coffee, a cucumber sandwich, and they are told to go to a website and figure it out on their own. That's what happens, so let's put aside any pretense that everything's great, and let's look at the problems that we're dealing with for veterans. Veterans are being ignored. When they hear that cuts are coming, and they're not even getting the basic services that they require, what kinds of emails do you think I'm getting?
I'm absolutely furious right now, because I feel like I've been reading a glossy book or a brochure that's telling us how wonderful things are, but we're not recognizing the problem that this machine is broken, Minister, and you're not telling me how you're going to fix it. I've sat in a meeting with you before, and I've told you that you're my fifth minister. You're the ninth minister in this department over the 10 years that this government has been in power. I want to know what's going to happen. How are you going to fix it? Don't tell me you're going to stabilize and modernize. Tell me what you're going to do with these investments and with the reduction in the budget that you're putting toward Veterans Affairs.