Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank the clerk as well for bringing in the chocolate milk today; that was a very kind thing.
Mr. Allard, thank you very much for your presentation. Thanks to everyone at the Royal Canadian Legion for the continuous work they do, not just in assisting our veterans but also in advising young people on what happened during the various wars and conflicts. You continuously educate our young people on the sacrifices and services of our military, not only in the past but currently as well. Thank you very much for that.
Sir, I always like things to be fairly simplified. I've always thought--and I'd like your response to this--that if a military person served, and now they're out of uniform and they require services, shouldn't the only criterion be whether you served? Then, if you did, what do you need? It's not necessarily what you want, but what you need after a careful assessment.
It gets so complicated. I have 22 veterans in the Dartmouth riding who have all been denied hearing aid assistance because they didn't have a hearing test when they left World War II or Korea. As you know, what happened was they worked on the naval ships and on the battlefields; they came home and, typical of most young people of those ages, they went back to work, went back to their communities, and thought nothing of it.
Now they're getting older. Their hearing is impaired. The audiologist says very clearly that there is a direct link from wartime service to now, but because they didn't have an actual test, DVA has denied them any assistance in that regard.
In VIP programs, if a person didn't get a pension, they're not covered. It's also if they make too much money; one veteran I know, who is 95, was accused of being too healthy and wealthy. All he's asking for is a little assistance around the yard--denied.
I know I'm being simple when I say this, because I've been accused of that before, but shouldn't the only criterion be whether you served--and if you did, what do you or your family need?