Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, gentlemen, thank you for much for being here today. Thank you both for your service. I'm sure on behalf of the entire committee we send our condolences for the loss of one of your soldiers in arms in Iraq, Mr. Doiron. I know that this hits everyone very hard, so my sincere condolences to each and every one of you.
Sir, in your second to last paragraph you talked about how everything is in place to ensure the continuity of care via the provincial health care system or VAC. As you know, sir, almost five million Canadians don't have a regular doctor now. In our office we deal with an awful lot of people who are fearful of leaving the great health care service they receive from DND to go into the so-called public or private sector. In many communities they don't have access to that provincial care they were receiving beforehand. One of the things that has been suggested for quite some time is the ability of an individual when they release from the military to maintain those connections to CAF medical services until they find a doctor because, in many cases, as you know, sir, when they leave the military there is not a doctor or those types of services available in the public or private sector outside of DND. Has there been any consideration at your level of allowing CAF members when they release to have at least a year or two of continued access to CAF medical services while they transition to public or private services?