Thank you, Mr. Clark.
Thank you for your great representation of our riding. You're doing a great job.
I will say that, 20 years ago, the transition period was really bad. It wasn't very good at all. It has improved over 20 years. There's no question about that, but I still believe there's a severe lack of communication between DND and DVA. It's almost like somebody wants to throw the football and not be responsible for trying to catch it later on. It's sort of like, this person was under DND and now they're under DVA, and now we have nothing to do with them anymore.
That needs to change. It's not perfect yet. It still needs to be done. The transition period should be seamless. It should be very clear. The individual who is leaving should be introduced to a case manager at DVA, who says, “My name is Peter. Here's my number. I'm the person who's going to walk you through the myriad of programs you're entitled to have or not have in the future. I'm the person you talk to.”
Right now, they call 1-866-522-2122. They could be talking to anybody a lot of time. Now with the PCVRS, you may be talking to somebody over there. A lot of veterans are very confused.
If you're looking to get gainful employment and if you're looking to get one person to walk you through the system, that's what should be happening. You shouldn't be talking to a whole range of folks. It should be very clear that this is the person you need to speak to. They're the one who will assist you and help you in transitioning into civilian life and then working towards employment down the road. That's really what we would like.
The whole veterans charter, when it came in 2006, was designed to ensure that people in their thirties and forties didn't just get a pension cheque and do nothing with the rest of their lives. The whole thing was designed so that they could have gainful employment, have the dignity of work and be able to look after their families in a safe and comfortable manner. That's really all they're trying to do.
I would encourage DND and DVA to work even more closely together and tighten up any gaps that are there so that the veterans and their families feel that their services were merited and warranted dignity and that they are able to move on with their lives.