I don't have all of the details with me, but I note that since 1998, when I started with the board, we had a peak of between 9,000 and 10,000 decisions a year. It would go down to 7,000, back up to 8,000, down to 6,000, so over time it has decreased. As I said, we're at 4,900 this year; last year it was approximately the same. There have been a lot of peaks and valleys.
Much of the volume depends very much on the number of first applications that are made with the department. For example, last year they rendered between 35,000 and 40,000 decisions that were appealable to the board, and we received about 10% of those.
It's also difficult to predict volume because veterans need only be dissatisfied, and there's no time limit within which they must appeal. They may decide to appeal 25 years after they've received a decision or they may appeal within a year. They don't have to come to the board and prove they have an error in fact or law, or bring new evidence; they need only be dissatisfied. I think that's part and parcel of the fluctuation, but it greatly depends on the volume at the department. It also depends on how representatives deal with the applicants in terms of counselling them in or out, based on the strength of their cases.
Another element that's played into the decrease in numbers is that a larger proportion of our cases, the more straightforward ones, go to a departmental review. I believe Mr. Butler probably spoke about the departmental review, an administrative redress mechanism within the department. I think over 2,000 cases were done at departmental review; in years past they might have done a few hundred, and those cases would have been at the board. It's a better process for them to go to the department. They get all of their appeal rights if they're still dissatisfied.