Yes, sure. I would also like to thank you at this very moment for your hire a veteran initiative. We are getting pretty good comments from all across the country from companies that are willing to hire veterans.
More than 5,000 veterans are released from our Canadian armed forces every year. Some of them are willing to retire, but some of them still want to be active, whether they voluntarily leave the Canadian armed forces or have been medically released.
One good example of the cutting red tape initiative we have implemented is certainly the forms. Many veterans said they had to deal with a lot of forms when they had to deal with us. So far we have eliminated 250 forms from the department. Thanks to the people at the department, this is making life easier for our veterans.
Also, as I have already said, we have simplified our procedure in the veterans independence program, but we are also taking the same approach for health-related travel expenses. Whenever a veteran has to go to a medical facility to see a specialist for some services, he is entitled to have his travel expenses covered.
Once again it was the same thing. They had to fill out forms, send the bill, and wait for it to be processed. It was lengthy, but it was a routine administrative task. So we are moving forward with upfront payments since we have a clear idea of the needs of every veteran. That's another example.
So VIP, health-related, and the elimination of forms are three clear examples of our cutting red tape initiative.
Also the first step we took was to communicate more clearly with veterans. You can ask me in what way it is diminishing red tape. We realized by communicating more efficiently with veterans, and this has been requested by the Veterans Ombudsman, veterans get a better understanding of the decision and of the process. This reduces their requests and their demands because it is clearer. This also has an impact on reducing red tape.