One of my colleagues, Mr. Gerretsen, brought up something that's near and dear to me—military families. I am one, myself, as the mother of two serving members. I had the great pleasure of visiting 12 bases and wings over the past year and talking to a lot of military family members.
One thing that struck me is the supports for families after service. I know that we recently announced increased funding to MFRCs through “Strong, Secure, Engaged” of an additional $6 million, but we also announced last year that going forward, all 32 MFRCs across Canada will now have access to veteran families who are medically released. From now on, veteran families can continue to go to their local MFRCs, an initiative of $147 million over the next six years, with additional funding of $15 million going forward to support veteran families to continue to use these services.
As a military family member, as you said, the transition can sometimes be traumatic for the member, but it can also be traumatic for the families who have always known that support centre of the MFRC.
Could you elaborate on the importance of supporting families in the Canadian Armed Forces? I know “Strong, Secure, Engaged” was the first time we've seen military families showcased and recognized so prominently. Could you talk a little bit about that?