Mr. Speaker, today we are recognizing an exceptional group of veterans to whom we owe a great deal of gratitude.
These veterans volunteered to participate in chemical agent testing at Suffield and Ottawa during and after the second world war.
Through their selfless service, service that has until now gone unrecognized, these veterans spared their comrades in arms the horrors of chemical warfare. More than that, they have provided the foundation for Canada's response to the very threat of chemical warfare, a threat that continues to this day.
From all accounts, these experiments were secret for a long time and, as a result, some veterans felt that they could not share their experiences with their family and friends. Others have brought to light that they felt that they could not access veterans' benefits as it meant disclosing the trials.
We are particularly thankful to Mr. Harvey Friesen and Mr. William Tanner for bringing these concerns to the attention of the government and we find the difficulties that these veterans encountered over the last several years very regrettable.
That is why we have established a program to provide payments to these individuals, payments that will total $24,000 for each eligible veteran or the beneficiaries of their wills.
We hope that today's announcement of this payment and recognition program will allow these veterans who have served Canada with pride and distinction to move forward with the respect and admiration they so richly deserve.
I would also like to take this brief opportunity as well to thank the current Minister of Veterans Affairs, the previous Minister of Veterans Affairs and the DND ombudsman, Mr. André Marin, for their contribution to this recognition program.