That is a good question.
I am going to tell you what I think about that, because, as I was saying, I certainly understand that these forms have to be filled in, and that conclusive data is required in order for the officials to make a decision.
So people are asked to fill in forms, to comment on their quality of life, to talk about the difficulties they are having such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and they are asked for medical expertise.
I do understand that it is important that people mention the restrictions they face as a result of their condition. Indeed, medical expertise can show that people have limitations in particular areas. For example, in everyday life, if my husband tells you that he cannot be in a crowd, medical expertise can prove that or demonstrate it. However, the fact that he can never attend his children's musical presentations, for example, gives some idea about his quality of life, that he feels strongly about mentioning.
So the idea is to simplify the processing and to lighten the questions to come up with a form that is better adapted to people's situations. In any questionnaire about quality of life the same five or six questions are asked—whether the person is dealing with post-traumatic disorder, lumbar problems or hearing difficulties. So when people are asked whether they can drive a vehicle, it becomes difficult to answer, because the back problem means that they cannot drive, but the post-traumatic stress disorder does not. In the case of some questions—and they are always the same ones—people are afraid of shooting themselves in the foot because there is nothing geared to their particular problem.
So the forms could be simplified and streamlined. Veterans Affairs Canada could, at the very least—and I come back to this once again—provide help in filling in all these forms.
I do not want to table the document I have been referring to, but it contains answers to the questions. People are asked to include photos to explain... I do not want to table the document, Mr. Chairman, first of all, because it is in French only, and second, it does contain private information. I just want to give you an idea of how much work I did for my husband for just one medical problem. The fact is that he has five medical problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
We have to look up what he did from a particular year to another year, to give his rank, his duties, and the year of his promotion. We are asked for a great deal of information. This requires a huge amount of research. We had to go through my husband's military reports page by page, as well as his medical records. Personally, I can do that, but not all spouses can.