I thank you for that response.
Certainly, I'm very proud of the Veterans Affairs workers in Kirkland Lake, in my region. I have had the honour to travel to commemorations in Sicily, Italy, and Normandy, and I've been told by many Europeans about how special it is, the way Canada commemorates, even compared to our allies.
I want to ask you an extension of the question on the Gulf War syndrome.
When I was elected, one of the first things I faced was that we were sending Canadians to what was called Operation Enduring Freedom. We were sending Canadians into Kandahar, and nobody called that special duty. We knew they were going to war. I realized then that the most important decision I might make in my career is sending people to face death or serious injury.
That was also the time when they changed the veterans from the pension to the lump sum payment. I remember thinking then, when I was much younger, that when you come back, maybe a lump sum doesn't seem so bad, but the effects start to happen as you get older. Certainly, in my office, I've dealt with many frontline workers and veterans for whom, through the years, it was long after that it started to affect them, and this is where we needed to be.
Could you talk to us about what you saw with the Gulf War syndrome, what we've seen in terms of our understanding of PTSD and why we need to frame the support and pension for a whole-of-life approach?