Just to clarify the word “returned”, I would point out that when we establish new benefits or make policy changes to a veterans program, we estimate the long-term obligation of meeting the needs of those programs. That estimate acts like a kind of a bank account from which we draw on annually. In the last fiscal year where we did lapse, or where we have unspent money in the program area, that money was effectively returned to the bank account—on which we can redraw when people do come forward for those benefits.
I believe that is what the minister was referring to when he said “returned”. That money does not, effectively, lapse. It may lapsed under the accounting terms and on our books, but it is available for veterans when they come forward.