Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister.
Indeed we do compare quite favourably. As you probably know, the U.S. has a very comprehensive system wherein they not only provide the care for the veteran through the course of his career and then on through his life as a post-military veteran, but they also provide their hospital care directly and much of their health care directly.
We had a lot of talk with the U.S. just last week, and they were remarking on how much further ahead they feel we are in terms of the use of information technology and the manner in which we serve veterans. Their own estimate was that we are likely two years ahead of them in that regard, and indeed they have asked us to come to them and give them a bit of our lessons learned and some insights into the advancements we've made.
In terms of other jurisdictions, it's harder to compare; the systems become less similar. But the U.K., as an example, is quite different from us, in that in the U.K.—and I think it's actually a disadvantage—a veteran cannot go to one door and get the services they need. They must go to many different doors. So I think that's yet another advantage that we offer to the veterans here in Canada.