Mr. Minister, your mantra since the election has been that veterans' benefits will be maintained. You've been very careful to never say the budget of Veterans Affairs Canada will be maintained. That is also the case for all who are issued your talking points. We also know, and I think you've indicated at the outset, that 90% of the budget of Veterans Affairs is paid through to veterans. So I want to focus on the 10% that you don't want to talk about, or that you haven't been talking about.
We know from Mr. Hillier's testimony that even before we get into the deficit reduction action plan, the transformation agenda will see 500 fewer jobs. Now, you have a cohort of employees within your department called pay and benefits officers, and the pay and benefits officers have basically been told that their jobs will soon cease to exist, and they're welcome to apply for 500 jobs that will be opening up in Miramichi.
So my question for you is this. Given the dramatic turmoil that your department is going to undergo at an employee level over the next few years, with the loss of at least 500 jobs, will you ensure that your pay and benefits officers remain in place to be able to help your employees through this difficult time?