Acknowledged.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm going to be voting against Mr. Stoffer's motion, but I feel compelled to give an explanation. I am indeed not happy that my province will be the only one with no case managers. I'm not happy that my province will be the only one without a district office. I do understand that the department has decided that all that Prince Edward Island veterans are entitled to in the way of face-to-face service is Service Canada.
I'm extremely concerned that Service Canada plans to reduce its workforce in Prince Edward Island by 46% over the next three years at the very time when they will be the only point of contact.
Having said that, I think I would be doing a great disservice to the veterans in my province, and probably a great disservice to veterans in other provinces where the department has already decided to go this way, by tying their hands behind their backs and not giving them enough money. There isn't enough money in Service Canada now to do the job. They're cutting back, and for us to compound the error would be a grave mistake.
So I'll be voting against the motion, although I'm not at all happy that the Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to go in this direction.