Well, it was between 2004 and 2010 that I was part of the committee. The recommendations at that time were exactly the same as I think I'm presenting today, that individuals should not be allowed to depart from DND without a very clear game plan going forward, one that has return to work and continued employment as a critical element of the expected outcome. I mean, we all identify with what we do for a living, because being successfully employed is what gives us our basis for economic participation, for social participation and for our own psychological health in the workplace. My view—and I think the recommendation in those days as well—is that there simply has to be a level of creativity brought to this.
What I saw in those days, and what we continue to see, is that sure, somebody who has served may not go into an office tower down the road, but why would they not be retrained for a career within Parks Canada or CBSA? Why would they not be retrained for a career, as Mr. Richards said, within Fisheries and Oceans or as a labour inspector within the labour program at Employment and Social Development? There is no reason. The key is to bring creativity and outside-the-box thinking to this as opposed to “this is how we've always done it”.