The government appears to think there's an operating assumption here.
What's incomprehensible is that this is included in the mandate letter of the Minister of Veterans Affairs, whereas it isn't his responsibility. Only the Minister of National Defence can make changes to the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act. Defence department experts have worked on this issue. I'm trying to contact them to find out what they've done. I want to sell them on the idea that we've advanced, the idea of creating a new rule under which a reasonable pension would be paid proportionate to the length of the spouses' life together. There has to be a little more fairness. It really makes no sense not to pay a pension.
Any government other than the Liberal government would probably be in the same position. Everyone's afraid to touch it. There's one government in this country that has done things differently since 1985, and it's the Quebec government. Under the Public Service Act, a pension is paid to every survivor at the time of death, regardless of the date on which their relationship began.