We sure appreciate that, but I think there are many members who served in our armed forces who served in that war—I will call it that, a war—who feel they aren't properly recognized because it's not considered wartime service.
It even says in VAC's own publications that it was the Persian Gulf War, yet they're not recognized as having served in wartime. That leaves many of our veterans feeling like they aren't considered the way they deserve to be. I hope you'll give that some consideration as we go forward.
Let's go back to this trust issue.
Ms. Blaney mentioned Philip Brooks, who is here with us today. He is one example of many people I've heard from who have lost faith in Veterans Affairs. They've lost trust in Veterans Affairs to the point where they're being asked to provide proof for medical conditions that are, in many cases, lifelong conditions. They're being asked to provide this proof over and over again. It leads them to the point where they just don't know what to do anymore.
Philip is on a hunger strike right now because of this situation. He is certainly far from the only one, unfortunately, who is feeling this way.
There are changes—policy changes, procedure changes—and it causes them to have to relive what can be pretty traumatic experiences they may have been through, which have led them to having these lifelong conditions. They have to prove these things over and over again. It's heartbreaking.
I wonder if you can address this. I wonder if you could speak a little bit to this lack of faith, this lack of trust that many of these veterans have. I've brought it up previously, but I really hope you're taking this to heart. Can you tell us a little bit about why you think that trust doesn't exist and what you can do to fix that?