Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for his passionate and caring speech. He raises an excellent point about research.
There seems to be a delay in translating research at Veterans Affairs Canada. For example, in Canada the illnesses of those who are eligible for an Agent Orange payment are actually based on the Institute of Medicine report from 2004. In the U.S. that is updated every two years. There is a review of the science and the new science is added.
If we look at ALS, research showed that veterans were more at risk of developing ALS. Again, the government chose to ignore this information as late as this spring. The U.S. took action back in 2008. It was the Dyck family who fought so hard to get compensation here in Canada, with the veterans ombudsman.
Now we have new research looking at post-traumatic stress disorder, and we see there is an increased risk of our veterans developing dementia.
I am wondering if my hon. colleague could comment on the need to make sure we have up-to-date research.