In general terms we did not receive the anticipated degree of calls from veterans related to pension for life. The majority of our calls were related to seeking to understand the program, particularly for those who were transitioning from the Veterans Well-being Act to pension for life.
We did receive a number of complaints related to the timeliness of the payout for the supplementary relief benefit, and we're looking at that.
We did receive a couple of concerns about perhaps some unintended consequences of changing programs from non-taxable to taxable and how that may impact a number of veterans, but we haven't worked those cases through with them.
I've met with Mr. Cousineau and I would say, first off, that the information he has shared is accurate and I think it corroborates what the Parliamentary Budget Officer has reported in terms of the financial comparison of the three benefit regimes that are now in existence, and it aligns with the work we've done in our financial analysis to date.
I would say that it almost defies simple comparison from one benefit regime to another benefit regime. In our work early on, we did note the implication for the most ill and injured veterans who, under pension for life, as it is written today and is being implemented today, would be less well off financially than they would have been under the Veterans Well-being Act.
I would also say that when I look at the three benefit regimes now, it's pretty clear that we have veterans under each of those benefit regimes who are not being treated the same way, even though they might suffer the same level of injury and they might have similar needs. That's certainly an issue that we'd like to see addressed moving forward.