Thank you very much.
I appreciate your presentation, and I'm extremely ecstatic to meet with you. It's the first time I've met you. I'm Darrell Samson, and I'm the member of Parliament for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia represents the highest number of veterans and military in Canada per capita, and I believe my riding has the highest in Nova Scotia, with 23% either military or veterans. It's the former riding of Peter Stoffer, who did a very good job and continues to do a good job in this area.
I have to tell you that in the two years that I've been a member, I've tried to continue to learn and I'm learning every day in this area. I'm extremely ecstatic to be on this committee.
That being said, I agree with you in many ways, as most of us I'm sure do. The transition is something that I continuously ask myself about. We have to do better. I agree 100%. I don't understand, so I guess I'm learning.
In any profession with public servants—all of us around this table—it doesn't matter what area we work for in government, we can advise, let them know, three months before we leave our job, and guess what. Everything is in place when we leave. It's unacceptable, so I agree 100%. I thank you and your office for doing the work you do. It does enforce the very important discussion.
Now, there are 10,000 members who retire yearly, and 27% of them have issues in transition. I'd also like to note that 60% of them are non-medically released. It's not just a problem with one group. It's a problem right across the board. It's unacceptable in many ways.
I like your suggestion on the what, the who, and the how. I think that's the crucial part. You talked about a report card your office has. We, as government, need to create a report card. We're talking about it now, as far as how we can make it better. We need to be doing the same thing. I believe that our government, right now—and I'm not talking about politics; it's not about politics at all—needs to do this right, and we need it done quickly.
We said not long ago that no member would be released without all benefits in place. I think it's pretty straightforward. “No members will be released.” We should be ensuring that's what we do. It's going to take a little time, but we don't have much. I really believe that we need to work very hard on that piece.
I'd like to talk about a few quick questions, because I've already used up three-quarters of my time, of course. I have an issue with that.
On accessibility and awareness, how can we do better in those two areas that are a major part of the transition? Can you speak to that please?