I would just give a reminder that prior to the emergency fund, as the minister indicated, we would use, basically, benevolent funds that the department had. People would bequeath money to the department for these kinds of situations, but there were often limitations, whether it be for the purpose or for geography. One fund was only for Vancouver Island. One was only for l'Hôpital Sainte-Anne. The funds were so limited. Only one fund went across the country, so it was always empty, because all of the case managers would go to this. Therefore, we would work with our partners in the Canadian Armed Forces and look for non-public funds, such as the profits from CANEX and other venues, in order to assist with these emergencies.
The challenge was how to provide money to a veteran or a veteran's family without having gone through all of the eligibility and those kinds of things, yet veterans would be on our doorstep on a Friday afternoon, saying, “I need help now.” Now, in every office across the country, there is a person who immediately can put out up to $2,500 to put a roof over that person's head, to put groceries on the table and to address issues. What's amazing is that when we go to some of the offices that use these emergency funds the most, Halifax being one and North Bay in Ontario being another, we see that they're using it not only for these classical situations but also for the survivors of some of our veterans, such as World War II and Korean War widows, and providing that support in emergency circumstances. That's just to say that it's providing everyone great flexibility.