In 1996 when I went to the Veterans Affairs office in Calgary, I was called a civilian. I was told I wasn't a veteran. I was told by the pensions advocate that this is what I was going to get and to not come back ever again. The mindset there, despite the fact I had served in the military and gone overseas, was that, no, I was just a civilian. I think anyone who puts on a uniform and honourably serves in the Canadian military, whether he or she goes overseas or not, is a veteran.
What I found is that it took our troops going to Afghanistan to start to change the mindset. In the nineties it was so bad that a lot of people who were veterans were despised here in Canada. I'm from Vancouver Island. My wife and I moved back to Duncan, B.C. She was informed by one of the managers at one of the businesses in Duncan that I'd never get a job on that island because I was ex-army. I was just floored that someone would say that. That wasn't a rarity; that was the norm. A lot of us in the mid-nineties right up until the late-nineties were treated really badly because we were veterans. It took our going into Afghanistan to start to change the mindset of Canadians, and to start to provide more for the veterans. I think 2006 was when all parties came together.
Whether we like the new charter or not, it's a living entity. It's a lot better than the old one. We need input from Walter and so many younger veterans who are just getting out of the military, and even veterans from my age bracket. We need to come together and come to a consensus. That's what I really love about the new charter. It's a living entity, and you're having standing committees like this to have input.