Mr. Chair, this is an issue with which I am familiar and, more important, I am very proud that it was our government, under the leadership of the hon. Greg Thompson, the former Minister of Veterans Affairs and a serving member from New Brunswick, who announced that we were offering a one-time, tax-free, ex gratia payment of $20,000 related to the testing of unregistered U.S. military herbicide, which, as she said, is known as agent orange. It was used on the base at CFB Gagetown from 1966 to 1967.
I had the honour to meet a number of these veterans and I know what an impact it had on their lives, their health and their well-being. We believe our government has been fair in compensating the request and the response to these long-standing concerns and we are very proud of this program that has—