Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to be with us this afternoon on this very important study.
Dr. Passey, thank you again for being here. You've been here many times, and I'm not sure that you've seen actual effects of some of your testimony come to light, because not much has changed, not much does change, and I think you'll agree with me on that.
One of the things I found interesting was that, when you were talking about caregivers and veterans, you went through the criteria, and if I didn't know any better, Dr. Passey, I would have thought you were talking about Max Gaboriault. I don't know if you know Max or know of him; he's been to this committee. In fact, he was invited to this meeting but didn't get a chance this time around. He has spoken publicly about his situation, that he's 115% disabled and has been rejected five times for his caregiver allowance.
You talked about seven different things, and I was only able to write down six of them, but you said at the end of it that it comes back to entitlements and decisions. You also said there is inconsistent application, lack of flexibility, often dealing with mental health, and that it's overly restrictive.
I'm just wondering, based on your experience with veterans like Max—whom I know you haven't dealt with, but in similar situations—how have you been able to overcome some of the problems you've seen for those veterans who have applied—many times, in the case of Max—but have been rejected by VAC?