Thank you, Chair.
I give tremendous thanks to the witnesses today for coming and sharing their wisdom and their experiences.
I'd like to focus on the caregiver recognition benefit. You've each shared in your own way your role, and Ms. Bart really painted a picture of what it means to be a caregiver.
We heard earlier on this committee from many caregivers and veteran supporters, but I'm thinking in particular today of Lieutenant-Commander Gerry White, who's here in Halifax, a veteran of the army and of the RCMP. He described to this committee that his wife was his support through his release and his reintegration into civilian life. She supports him through his contacts in his tireless devotion to helping veterans in this community, and she supported him even for his appearance at this committee, which was a tremendous burden for him, draining for him, but he did it anyway.
Thank you for adding to the committee's understanding of that burden. I want to say that there's joy as well, as Ms. Bart mentioned, that comes from being a caregiver, but clearly it's hard work.
We see from the stats that the caregiver benefit was received by a little over 1,100 people this year, and if I just take that number—it's not very scientific—and divide it per capita across the country, it means that about 30 people in Nova Scotia will draw that benefit. Well, there are thousands of veterans just in Halifax, so obviously it's not reaching as far as we would all like it to.
I really want to ask for your vision, your dream, for what this benefit could be, and I guess specifically what changes you might recommend. Mr. Gauthier recommended something very specific: increase it to $1,500, tax-free, but if you could help the committee understand what we can take away from this to make that benefit reach more people, I think we'd all be very grateful.
Each of you has this experience, and I'm sure you have things to say. Let's just get into it.