Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank all of you for the work you're doing. It's incredibly important. Some of this is anecdotal, so I'll ask some questions on data, but I certainly thank you for the work you're doing. Ms. Lowther, do you live in Halifax?

Veterans Affairs committee  Okay. I live in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and my colleague lives in northern New Brunswick, so some of my questions will be more specific to the Atlantic region and will have to do with rural versus urban. I also sit on the international trade committee. We hear very different responses from witnesses based on where they're giving testimony from across the country.

Veterans Affairs committee  What would you recommend for affordable housing in very rural settings? I can think of so many maritimers who will leave, especially in the case of service, with Base Gagetown in New Brunswick. and who will end up coming back. They want to be in their home communities. If the wraparound services aren't there, what do you recommend for that?

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. Mr. Gordon or Mr. McInnis, do you have a comment on that?

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Gordon, you are a numbers guy.

Veterans Affairs committee  Is there a common repository that we can feed the numbers into in order to start collecting them?

Veterans Affairs committee  From your experience, do you see more supports or fewer for veterans than five years ago?

Veterans Affairs committee  What about conflicts? Is there a common conflict, such as a war conflict that the veterans have participated in, or is it just all veterans, from 17 to 92, as you mentioned, Mr. Gordon?

Veterans Affairs committee  The question was basically looking at the 10 grams down to three grams.

Veterans Affairs committee  It sounds, Dr. Heber, that a lot of this has evolved over the course of time. I find it surprising there's been such a little amount of research since 2008. In fact, a number of the vets who are using marijuana as a form to try to manage PTSD are probably on other medications as well.

Veterans Affairs committee  Would you recommend that as an area for research?

Veterans Affairs committee  I represent an area in New Brunswick. I know all of the usage in that province in particular. One of the companies in my riding of New Brunswick Southwest is actually a medical marijuana company well known for the research that has been done there, but they also do the testing on the different strains.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Chair. Thank you both for your presentations today. I'm wondering about the prescription itself. The first time someone asks for a prescription for marijuana, is the prescription automatically for a year?

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. My next question is about the transition. Knowing what you know now, does the Department of Veterans Affairs work with DND to help on that transition with a veteran? We think of people who retire. There's always the person in HR who gives the explanation. However, that person hasn't retired yet.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.