Also, there are two other concerns. One is the benefit of the doubt. We hear that a lot. We've heard from some of your associates throughout the country that the benefit of the doubt in all senses and purposes isn't worth the paper it's written on. Many veterans are frustrated by that because they feel that they have the evidence. A case in point is Ken Whitehead of Nova Scotia, who has allowed me to use his name. He has 3,660 hours of flight time on the Sea King as a navigator, 4,000 hours of flight vibration. He was diagnosed by former Lieutenant-Commander Dr. Heather MacKinnon, whom I'm sure you know. She's a former flight surgeon who served over 20 years in the military.
The first response was he was a navigator on a ship. That's wrong. He was a navigator on a helicopter. Second, her medical evidence, in VRAB's words, was “not credible enough”. When that type of information appears before you folks, what do you do? I know you can't speak to a specific case, but that is one case of many that I've received over the years. They're so frustrated by that because everyone knows if you're leaning over in a helicopter for 3,600 hours, you're going to have a bad back. Everybody knows that. It's not rocket science. You don't need a flight surgeon to tell you that. Yet VRAB denied it on the basis that her medical evidence wasn't credible enough. I know BPA lawyers are very frustrated when they hear that because this happens all the time.
The last question I have for you, before I get cut off by our wonderful chairman, is about when the benefit of the doubt is not applied.
I believe you said it yourself, Anthony, that people can come to you, and if there's information they're missing you'll advise them on what to do. But in all reality, shouldn't it be the front line people who do that? The front line people should tell these folks when they're making a claim what they need to have. But they have to go to get legal advice from you—for free, mind you, but not to the taxpayer—to tell them they need this. That takes a long time before it gets to you. Wouldn't it be more advisable to bypass you folks and have the front line people tell Mr. George or whomever, if they're applying for a benefit, what they need to have? Wouldn't that be more advisable and quicker for the veteran? I'll leave you with that.