Thank you much, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry for that interruption folks.
I want to thank each and every one of you for being before us today. Your advice and your recommendations are very helpful for us to narrow down what we should do for the enhancements to the new Veterans Charter.
To Mr. Forbes, Deanna, and Richard, you're all correct. This was an all-party committee. Most of the major veterans groups back in '05.... I remember the late Jack Stagg very clearly. And the selling point was that this was a living charter.
You are correct, it has been some time before we've seen any changes. You're also correct that the time is now. I can assure you that this committee will work very hard to ensure, not every single change that we want will happen right away, but to get the major ones done for the most seriously injured.
My first question is for you, Mr. Forbes. Then I have one for Deanna and then one for Mr. Blackwolf.
We were talking to the gentleman who came before us, the previous witness. He indicated that he knew of a fellow who got in a train accident and lost both legs. He received $1.5 million for that compensation benefit as a disability award or a loss of injury award—whatever the courts call it. In Britain right now the lump sum is over $1 million Canadian. Right now ours is under $300,000. There have been calls to get it to about $350,000 or to half a million dollars.
In all fairness, sir, I know it's always difficult to throw out numbers of what it should be, but when we hear Britain is getting $1 million—and I'm not sure what the States would be—would you support a fairly large increase into what is called the lump sum payment in order to assist the initial action? I don't mean to say that this is the only thing the veteran would get, but the initial action.
Deanna, for you the question is what you want to see interpreted in the act. You have it in italics on page 1. Do the ANAVETS have a legal opinion on that? For you, you know in italics on your front page—you can answer after Mr. Forbes—do the ANAVETS have a legal opinion of what this holds the government or any future governments to?
Richard and Joseph, thank you very much for coming. I'm interested to know about the family aspects for individual members, reservists, for example, who don't have a spouse and children, but leave behind a mother and father who may be impoverished because that person may have been the only breadwinner for the mother and father.
What are your views on what should happen in that particular regard? As you know, when a veteran who is married gets killed there's a lump sum payment given to the family, to the spouse, but if the person is single and doesn't have any family there is no payment to the estate. I'd just like your views on that after the other two.
Thank you for coming.