Absolutely. I thank you for the question.
Actually, not only did the veterans community ask for cutting red tape, but the Auditor General also asked us, so that our processes can be streamlined and our wait times reduced. That's why we are moving forward with a busy agenda.
The ombudsman has also asked—and this has been implemented for more than a year—that we communicate clearly with veterans. That may sound trivial, but if a military veteran gets a letter from the government that is unclear and is written in a bureaucratic way, it might be difficult for the veteran, who is used to having clear direction, to understand the meaning of the content of this letter. That's why the Veterans Ombudsman recommended—and we have implemented this measure—that we communicate in what we call plain and clear language. So now when we communicate with a veteran, we break the letter we're sending into pieces, so that there's a clear identification of the veteran's needs, his claim. There's also a reasoning for what is behind the decision. There is the decision, the criteria that have led to the decision, the facts that were used, the rules and guidelines that have helped to render this decision, and the result in terms of impact—programs or services that can be provided. As well, there will be a way the veteran can get more information or get us to revisit the decision. This initiative comes from a recommendation of the Veterans Ombudsman, and it is part of our initiative to cut red tape. It is called a plain and clear language initiative.
I have also mentioned that we strive to reduce wait times. Our deputy minister mentioned that some other countries are facing some challenges with wait times. We strive to reduce our wait times, and when people call us through our 1-800 VAC line, we strive to answer them in a timely manner. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but we've seen significant improvement.
The other part of cutting red tape is in simplifying forms, such as the ones that were required for privacy. There used to be many forms for privacy, for veterans who were applying, so we are eliminating duplication of those forms, and we've reduced this number.
Those are some of the initiatives. I've also touched on the web initiative.
In a nutshell, that's what our cutting red tape initiative is, and we are not done yet.