I'm going to join the chair in stating that a number of people have also come to me who have been changed from one case officer to another time and again. One thing I've been hearing when speaking to case officers is that they're overwhelmed in trying to deal with the people they have.
I understand that a case officer must not have more than 40 people, and those were your words when you came to my office.
I'm glad that you agree with this.
Even in a centre in which we have fewer than, let's say, 160 people—I'll grant you that there is such a centre out there—could we not move those service managers into a Service Canada office and have them work out of it in order to look after their veterans? If you are a veteran and you're in Thunder Bay, you have a heck of a drive.
If you are a veteran at a rally in Sydney, where there was a rally with more than 3,200 people.... I'm not sure whether they marched from all across the province, but many of them were local. The people who were there were overwhelmingly not very pleased that the centre was closing down.
If it's bricks and mortar that we're trying to save money on, I'm sure we could move those service officers into the Service Canada section, so that when veterans go to get some help, those who fought to put us at the front of the line and not at the back of the line...so that a 90-year-old veteran will not be given a 1-800 number to call to “punch 1, punch 2” or be told to go on the Internet to get service.
Can we not accommodate? Can we not do that? I realize you want to save money, because the centres are there and you probably want to get rid of the property. But could we not move the case officers into Service Canada?