Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 15th, 2012

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Gentleman, thank you very much. I will join my colleagues and thank you for your great service, everybody present here and veterans, and for your service to our country.

I listened to both presentations very carefully, and maybe to change the tone a little bit I will ask a general question. Is there anything positive we can say about the VRAB? Is there anything positive we can say? We've heard all the negative comments, but I don't think in life, in any organization, every single thing is negative. Therefore there must be something positive.

[Ronald Griffis]

There are thousands upon thousands of veterans who have had a good response and a good deal with the VRAB—thousands. Once they receive their benefit and they're happy with it, you never hear from them. Yes, there are thousands who have been successful.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

As we know, not every case goes to the VRAB—

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Your question, Mr. Lizon, please.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

—because many are done on the first round, but we've heard from previous witnesses that some cases that go before the VRAB are cases where there is insufficient paperwork. Some positive cases are appealed because people are not happy with the original decisions.

It's too bad that we don't have all these statistics because they would give us a better picture of what the real problem is and what percentage of total cases we are really—

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

You have 10 seconds, Mr. Lizon, please, to ask your question.

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

I have 10 seconds. I'm sorry. I thought I had four minutes. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.

I was just about to conclude. I'll just ask a quick question. Do you have any additional recommendations? We're all here to serve veterans.

[Jerry Kovacs]

Guy Parent has told you what to do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Thank you. I'm sorry about that. We have to stop there.

I really want to thank our presenters today. That was very helpful information, which will add to our report. On behalf of the committee, we appreciate your coming here. You did a good job.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

For the rest of the committee, we'll see you on Wednesday.

The meeting is adjourned.