Mr. Allard, if I may call you Pierre, as you call me Gilles in private. If I get mixed up and call you Pierre during the discussion, rest assured that there is no ill intent on my part.
I have read your presentation this morning carefully. There are a few paragraphs that shock me. That may be because I am sensitive. The first is on page 2. There were other ways this could have been said, without saying that 70 veterans will die today. That seems to me to be using those people's misfortune to strengthen one's own position. I do not like it, and that is not because it comes from you. I would not like it if any organization made that kind of comment.
The other thing, Mr. Allard, that you are surely aware of, is that I am still very uncomfortable with the demands you are making, even if there is good reason for them. I am thinking about seniors who were not in the war, but who made a huge contribution, if not as great a contribution as veterans, to developing this country, and who unfortunately do not have a third, or a tenth, or 20% of what you have. I say this so that it will be on the record: it affects me directly when I walk around my riding and I see seniors wearing the same sweater for 10 or 15 years because they cannot afford to buy a new one, or when I see seniors who have to choose between buying prescription drugs or a baloney sandwich. It upsets me.
Those are the only comments I can make this morning. There is nothing else I can tell you. I would like to know what you think of this.
I am finished speaking, Mr. Chair.