Thank you, Jean-Guy.
I think I'll respond by noting the statistic that we shared in the U.S. context. We know there's U.S. research that focuses on how women identify as veterans, and it's a different cultural context and lens, certainly.
There is work that needs to be done in the Canadian context so that we better understand Canadian military and veteran women. VAC has made strides in that regard, but there is certainly a way to go, and there is a way to go in terms of the gender and other lenses we apply to commemoration activities and to the study of our history in the military context.
I would leave it at that with reference back to our pre-budget submissions and other testimony we've given to this committee with regard to the study on the backlog.
You know, when it comes to very fundamental transactions with the organizations, with the departments that one depends on for very essential, very necessary benefits, and when those are difficult to access, when veterans are waiting several years for decisions and adjudication on the basis of their gender, that lack of respect becomes quite pronounced. It becomes a factor that alienates you from the culture, camaraderie and the connection, the community, that you had that is so unique to the military. It's unfortunate when that happens, but it's, again, a very fundamental issue that can be fixed with some attention to detail, frankly.
I would leave it at that and encourage, again, the focus on research and better data.