Thank you for your questions, and I will try to answer them one by one.
With respect to Ste. Anne's Hospital, as you may recall, we had several hospitals across the country and, following the war, health care was not organized based on provincial structures. It is the federal government that set up these hospitals to support veterans. Over the years, the government has divested itself of these hospitals and transferred them to the provinces, Ste. Anne's Hospital in Montreal being the last of these hospitals.
Having said that, our World War II veterans have access to Ste. Anne's Veterans Hospital. It provides geriatric and psychogeriatric services. People can go there depending on their needs, particularly if they are not able to receive the necessary care in their community.
As regards our “new” veterans, they are not cared for in a geriatric centre, because they are not old enough. At the same time, it has been proposed that the Government of Quebec purchase Ste. Anne's Hospital. The Quebec government has shown some interest in acquiring it. You may recall that one or two years ago, an entire floor at that hospital had to be shut down because of the smaller client base.
As a general rule, people are like you and me, in that they prefer to be hospitalized close to where they live, if they can, rather than be sent to a hospital 300 kilometers from home. Their wives and family also want them to be hospitalized close to their place of residence. We have in fact reserved beds in a number of provincial hospitals, in order that veterans who so desire can receive services close to where they live, rather than being sent to Ste. Anne's Hospital.
As well, you have also heard people saying that they would like their wives to be with them. For example, if you have Alzheimer's disease, but your wife has another health problem, it may not be easy to accede to your wishes.
In addition to that, under the legislation, Ste. Anne's Hospital is reserved for veterans only—not their spouses. It is only for veterans. However, once that hospital has been transferred to the Government of Quebec, if we are able to agree and if the Government of Quebec is willing to acquire it, veterans will obviously take priority. That is the situation as it currently stands.
So, the new veterans do not go there. It is completely different for them.