Thank you, Chair.
I want to thank you both so much for being here today and for sharing this reality that you're living.
I have to say that both of you have quite the stack of paperwork in front of you. I appreciate that hard work, but I also feel a great deal of sadness that that's been given to you as part of your service without any pre-emptive discussion with you that, when you were done your service, you would have to work so hard just to prove it. It makes me think of a lot of veterans my office has worked with who may not have that skill set and, when they don't have that skill set, how utterly silenced they are and how frustrated they are and how painful that is.
The longer I'm on this committee—and I've been on this committee for many years—the more that component of humanity is part of the system that I think is broken. Not that there aren't great people who work at Veterans Affairs—I think both of you have talked about that—but there's something in the system that is really broken and forgets humanity. That's how I'll start.
Sean, you and I have talked a lot, and I want to thank you for the duty to inform. Earlier this month, I put forward a motion in the House of Commons so that we could really start pushing that issue and ask the House to acknowledge that there should be a legislative duty for the government to meaningfully inform and assist serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as released members and their families, in understanding the various benefits and services to which they may be entitled, no matter how extreme their disabilities or their loss. I think that lack of support is part of the problem.
I've also heard, as has the committee, from service providers who feel they have to go and educate the Veterans Affairs staff about what services they provide so that they actually get the correct referrals. People are finding them, but until VAC refers them to that service, they can't access that service.
I'm going to start with you, Sean. Could you share a little with us about why the duty to inform is so important? One of the things that would be very helpful for me in your answer is to hear some of the ways that could be done. You talked about people showing up back in the day and hanging up their coats and sticking around to help. I know we have a different world right now. I know of veterans for whom it sometimes takes two months to open mail from Veterans Affairs, because they have challenges. At least that's in their house, so somebody can hopefully open it for them, but we have to figure out.... With all of the distrust that's been built, unfortunately—maybe not intentionally, but the impact is there—when we talk about the duty to inform, what could that look like?