First off, the Legion needs to die.
Let me put that out there, and I'll explain why. Those are guys who grew up in a time when it was safe to slap your wife, spank the kids, and kick the dog. Today, you cannot be seen in public, drunk. We've had a societal change.
The Legion has abdicated its responsibility as a government-mandated organization to support the veterans. This is why there are 63 advocate groups that sit in front of committees like this, trying to advise the minister on how to proceed. Pensions is a classic example. Their original mandate stated, “to secure adequate pensions, allowances, grants and war gratuities for ex-service personnel, their dependents, and the widows”.
That's right out of the government statement. They're not doing that. The fact that we've gone from a pension in the first charter to a buy-off in the second charter makes no sense at all. I believe that we have stepped up to the plate in our own way. We've taken on this notion of motorcycle groups, or fishing groups, or art groups, or whatever. We stay in connection as best we can, but the problem with PTSD is that it isolates us. We become hermits and it's up to us to continue to reach out to each other.