In terms of the $2 billion—which is not, of course, in the budget, because the sum has not been approved yet by the House of Commons—the amount will be included if it is approved through a vote.
We are talking about $200 million over five years. In the Minister of Finance's accounting, since he has to keep track of the total costs, there is a mention of the $2 billion in the budget. That's what we should hear announced tomorrow.
You have probably also noticed that we want to do more to help our veterans. As a result, we are going to introduce a new measure for veterans who want to return to civilian life or who can no longer be in the military because of injuries. This measure will allow them to offer their services in the construction sector.
That's being done in the United States, and a number of our soldiers have professional skills that could be used in construction. We will try to find a way to help them to work in this sector and, of course, we will consider other options.
As to the homeless situation, I went to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal where we have established pilot projects. I think everyone was able to see that veterans who are homeless can usually be eligible for assistance from us.
However, the hard part is for us to find them. Once we find them, we will definitely examine their files and assess the services they can receive from us. I think we can easily come to the conclusion that a homeless person is someone with difficulties in life. So our department assesses the files.
I even had the opportunity to have dinner with a homeless person who told me his life story and how his black-out happened. This man decided one day to leave the army for all kinds of reasons and ended up on the streets. He told me that, while he was in the army—you will perhaps find this story interesting—he served as a model prisoner, which had an impact on his life later, after he left the military. One day, he was working with his hands, as he was a good carpenter, and his fingers came into contact with the saw. The blood spurted on his face and everything went black.
No one wanted to look after him, and his family abandoned him. So he went into the bush near Calgary. He told me he lived in a tent for two and a half years and he cried every day. He said he cried all the time.
One day, someone from our department found him and was able to take care of him. He has now recovered and is getting all the services from our department.
It was really remarkable hearing this story, which helped me to see this man's journey. We often wonder about PTSD and we don't think it can happen just like that. In his case, it was the accident that triggered it.