Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Wallace, I agree with you that it would be nice to invite veterans to come and share their views on pensions with the Standing Committee on Finance.
My first comment is directed to Mr. Fraser.You stated that no particular priority was assigned to the 16 recommendations. As I'm listening to you speak, I sense that there are at least three major themes coming out of this morning's discussions.
First of all, there are the financial considerations which obviously are very important to you. Family and personal security are important.
Then there is the culture of the department, that is the way the department operates. I'm not comfortable talking about the culture of the department because the public service is merely enforcing laws and policies. I'm tempted to use employment insurance as an example. Changes have been made to the EI system and a client who comes into an EI office and who has made a mistake is almost automatically accused of fraud. The same holds true for taxes. It's more the way policies are devised that ensures that under these systems, the client is almost automatically considered guilty, even before he has the opportunity to state his case. It's true of the Income Tax Act and of employment insurance and I'm sure it must be the same for veterans.
However, you have to understand that public servants are only applying the law. The politicians are the ones who make the law. I have some personal views on this subject. The system needs to be changed so that clients are not automatically deemed guilty before they even have an opportunity to defend themselves.
The third point concerns follow-up measures, or the help veterans receive when they are discharged from the forces after being injured and when they want to return to civilian life. To my way of thinking, it is critically important that each person receive personalized help. You say that you become mere numbers and that follow-up measures are impersonal. As a result, you find yourself all alone dealing with the bureaucracy. Some people are unable to handle this.
Have I summed up the three priority areas you identified for us this morning? I'd like to get the opinion of the three witnesses.