Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As everybody has said, thank you to the witnesses for being here, for your service and for your testimony here today.
Seeing that we are nearing the end of the meeting, sometimes one of the last questioners tries to summarize and give you an opportunity to bring recommendations.
Some of the notes I've jotted down reminded me of some of the great work that is being done by some of the non-profits and other organizations. You mentioned, sir, that when you can connect directly with Veterans Affairs, there is some great work being done and they do need more resources to deal with some of the complex issues. I would agree, as that has been my experience as well in working with veterans and different organizations.
One of them, if this committee will indulge me yet again, which I've mentioned here before, is the military veterans wellness program that was started by Toronto Police Service constables Aaron Dale and Jeremy Burns. They identified a very specific gap in being able to connect veterans with services. One of the challenges Veterans Affairs Canada has is they don't have people on the ground directly in touch, in frontline scenarios, with veterans in need, specifically those who are suffering from homelessness and, potentially, drug addiction and mental health issues. There is that detachment and gap there. These two gentlemen identified this and created this program, and it took off.
I'm very proud that the Region of Waterloo expanded the program to constables David Cassidy and Brian Serapiglia. Since they've taken on the program, they have directly connected over 80 veterans in the Waterloo region who were in need of services with Veterans Affairs Canada, and those folks are being served now.
I'm wondering if there are other examples you can bring forth as recommendations for how we here can facilitate. There is a role to play for those frontline services, and there is a role to play for non-profit organizations and other organizations like the Legion and No Soldier Left Behind.
I'm wondering, sir, if you can use the rest of my time to provide us with some very concrete recommendations that we could put forth in this report.