Mr. Kerr, thank you very much for the CPP disability aspect. I appreciate your knowledge on that.
Let me just take you down a little memory road first.
Mr. Thompson, an opposition member at that time, I remember very well, at SCONDVA committees and publicly.... In a letter Mr. Harper wrote to Joyce Carter, of St. Peter's, in 2005, he said that if the Conservatives formed a government, they would immediately extend the VIP program to all widows and widowers of World War II and Korean War veterans; it was signed by Mr. Harper. That's what he said in a letter to a widow of a veteran in 2005. The words were “immediate” and “all”.
In 2008, an increase to VIP came, which allowed 10% of those widows the additional benefit, but it was under new criteria. They had to have a disability tax credit or have a particular income. That's not what the letter to Joyce Carter said. The letter said “immediate” and “all”. We asked that it be in the 2006 budget. It didn't come. We asked that it be in the 2007 budget. It didn't come. When it came in 2008, over two and a half years after the written promise, you asked me, as an opposition member, to vote for that, when Mr. Harper himself said “immediate” and “all”.
Both Mr. Thompson, in Gagetown, and Mr. Harper said that we will have a public inquiry into the chemical spraying of defoliants at Gagetown, and all people affected from 1958 to 1984 will be looked after. Those were their words, not mine. We're still waiting for the public inquiry. I think fewer than 2,000 people were actually eligible for the $20,000 ex gratia payment. Over 300,000 people, Mr. Kerr, were affected by defoliant spraying in Gagetown during that period. What the Conservatives did was exactly what the Liberals promised: they would only look after those affected by the American spraying of Agent Orange in 1966 and 1967. That's not what the Conservatives told the people when they were in opposition prior to the election in 2006.
We did a collaborative report that was unanimous about certain conditions for the veterans ombudsman. Here's what we wanted to see. We got the veterans ombudsman, but he's handcuffed--