Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I have concerns. Since I began working on this issue, I have found that a number of veterans from across the country have come forward with similar issues, saying that they have to fight the government to prove that they have had a medical problem or to prove what their injury is. Some have to prove every year whether they are disabled or not, and that has caused many veterans additional grief while trying to recover and improve their lives. They have had to fight a new fight with the government all over again.
I think that the government recognizes that it has had a problem. It has shifted ministers to try to deal with this issue and repair the damage.
I just want to add what Brian Forbes said. He is chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations, and he calls the recent Conservative announcement a “half measure”. This is an individual speaking on behalf of a national veterans organizations. He also said:
I have been afraid from the very beginning that these announcements would produce incomplete responses to the [Commons] committee and the recommendations that have been made by veterans’ organizations for quite a few years now.
There are many veterans and veterans organizations speaking out about the half measures and the announcements that do not go far enough and showing that veterans are having to fight for the benefits that they so rightly deserve.