Thank you very much.
Thank you to our witnesses today for joining us to study a very important issue for Canadians.
I want to start with the director of veterans services for the Royal Canadian Legion.
Ms. Hughes, thank you for being here.
You did say that the issue facing veterans and people within the armed forces is not unique. It's an issue that's felt by many people across this country. In many ways, this comes down to affordability. Affordability is an important issue for Canadians. I just had a town hall on the issue.
One of the ways to mitigate the challenges that occur when someone is taking on these challenges is to put in programs and services but also to look at increasing wages to help fight against some of those challenges. Just for the record, there was a piece in the budget last year, in 2023, to increase the pay of people within the Canadian military, and the Conservatives voted against increasing pay for people within the military services. I think that's a perfect example of a solution to help people take on those challenges.
In addition to that, during my town hall, we talked about new national programs like the child nutrition programs, the pharmacare program, child care, the tax benefit and the dental program. These are national programs designed to help Canadians overall.
Ms. Hughes, are these types of programs welcomed by the membership within your organization and the families you're speaking on behalf of, as well Canadians in general?