As concerns forms, when people submit applications for benefits or for federal government projects... I have been involved with seniors' associations and I have been a member of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada for 20 years. We have recommended countless times to government officials to simplify the questionnaires so that people can complete them more easily. You know, the illiteracy rate in Canada is very high, this is a serious problem and nothing is being done about it.
For example, last week, I received an application form for New Horizons, a program to help eradicate senior abuse. As a provincial organization, should we hire someone to fill out this form? It requires vast knowledge of "bureaucratese"—if you will pardon the expression. As volunteers, we are not capable of filling out this form. I learned the next day that this program only has funding of $1.8 million for all of Canada. So we decided not to go ahead with the application because there is insufficient funding. Everyone in Canada is going to fight for a small portion of the $1.8 million allocated to counter senior abuse. We gave up because it would have cost us more to fill out the questionnaire than the money we would have received.
The high illiteracy rate is a major problem and one that is not always understood by government officials. I understand why: these officials are learned experts in the area, but that does not meet community needs. As volunteers, we are often called upon to help people fill out their application form for the Guaranteed Income Supplement, for example. It is a serious problem for these people.
You referred to veterans who have a low level of schooling. They are not always available. When they listen to the radio, watch TV or read the newspapers, they don't always understand what they are reading because it is not their everyday vocabulary that is used. In this regard, I think that it is a serious problem.