Our plans for the future include expanding programs to ensure their sustainability and accessibility across the country. We are going to develop a formal partnership with the Canadian Institute of Military and Veteran Health Research to ensure that Canada has a credible and independent military and veterans health research institute. We will expand our outreach to our traditional veterans, who are often isolated at home due to limited mobility, and to our modern veterans, including those members of the regular and reserve forces, and of course their families. We are also embarking on a modernization of our service bureau network to ensure that we have a continued effective service to all veterans and their families.
This is a brief snapshot of some of the services and programs that the Legion provides to veterans and their families. The Legion has been delivering programs to our veterans and their families since 1926. The Legion is very proud of the work that has been done to assist all of those individuals. Our programs continue to evolve to meet the changing demographics while supporting our traditional veteran community. Notwithstanding the capacity of the Royal Canadian Legion, however, we firmly believe that the Canadian Forces, the RCMP, and Veterans Affairs Canada have a definite obligation to ensure that policies, practices, and programs, supported through sustainable research, are accessible and meet the unique needs of all veterans, with the goal of providing health and well-being based on need and not a myriad of eligibility hoops.
Programs and services need to be delivered from cradle to grave in an integrated and seamless manner by all responsible government departments who share responsibility.
Thank you.