There are a number of things that, combined together, we're really hoping are going to help us crack the problem of homelessness.
I created a full national round table on homelessness with some of the best groups in the country—right across the country—some of them regional, some of the national in scope. It was heartening for me to see them sharing best practices with one another, sharing business cards with one another.
There are some things that are going on in some parts of the country that are proving to be remarkably effective. What we're able to do now with the wellness fund is help to basically ramp them up so that they'll be able to help more people in their region or possibly be able to scope things a little more nationally.
While we are doing many things, the issue of homelessness—and I think anybody involved in the field would agree with this—is something that we have to tackle with groups that are close to the ground. I'm proud of the fact that we do that, whether it's VETS Canada or any number of organizations that exist across the country. The Legion is doing incredible work on this, and again, there are some very small, regionally based ones that are doing great work.
Pension for life, because it's a monthly contact with veterans, I think is going to prove to be a very important tool. Instead of getting a disability award and basically being written off the ledger, we will now have the ability to have monthly contact with the veteran and be able to check in with them more frequently than we can now.
There are other things, like the earnings loss benefit and the psychosocial vocational rehabilitation that comes with that. Many veterans now will be receiving 90% of their previous salary. There is the fact that we can offer career transition services that are more than just $1,000 and “good luck with the job search”. We are proactively able to work with them. We're also able to match them up with private sector hiring.
All of that combined, I think, is going to go a long way to helping solve that problem with homelessness.
What I'm most heartened by, again, is listening to groups from across the country who are now working together.