I have met with a number of veterans, because we have received a few claims like that. They are becoming completely discouraged with the system.
First, there is the refusal rate of first-time claims. I'm relying on the percentages you provided today. I'm guessing they are true, but we have seen much higher refusal rates.
As my NDP colleague said, these people often just end up giving up. People with PTSD feel vulnerable. You must be familiar with the issue of low self-esteem. They are in a very vulnerable position and they feel like they have to fight a whole system, a huge organization. That's quite something! They need lawyers, they need to be able to defend themselves.
As a way of self-evaluation, an evaluation of your own practices, could you make any recommendations to improve the system so that it is less overwhelming for those who are trying to get disability benefits?
You talked about the training of the board members. Could we go beyond that and develop new tools, gain more expertise to be able to tell whether the person before us has a diagnosis, a history? Do you understand what I'm trying to say? The refusal rate should be lower.
What are your recommendations to improve the effectiveness of your work? I think we can question it. I am looking at the numbers and I think that we can question the degree of effectiveness. Couldn't we be more effective?