Thank you, Madam Parliamentary Secretary, for raising this point.
Indeed, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is a tool available to veterans which enables them to challenge decisions made by the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is both a review and an appeal process. The board is independent from the government. We have a rigorous process for selecting members sitting on this board, which relies on their skills. There is therefore a prequalification process and the criteria we are looking for include military experience, medical experience or quasi-judicial experience.
I have with me the profile of the four new members who have been appointed. We have a nurse with more than 35 years of experience in health care, who has also worked in the area of rehabilitation and career transition. We also have a soldier with 27 years of experience who retired with the rank of brigadier general. We also have a Lieutenant-Colonel who spent 22 years with the Canadian Forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Reichle, as well as another member of the Canadian Forces who—it is interesting to point this out— was a lawyer in the office of the Judge Advocate General, whom soldiers refer to as the JAG.
We are very pleased to have confident individuals who bring depth to the board, which will ensure that when a veteran appeals to the board, he or she will be dealing with individuals who have military culture and experience.