Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. One thing I want to stress to you, which I didn't make note of earlier, is that the number is not indexed as you see it here, but salaries are about 70% to 75% of our operating cost of the department. If there are increases in salaries, the department automatically receives those numbers.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, if you want. No problem.

Veterans Affairs committee  I wouldn't mind responding to that. The one I'm familiar with is the one in Charlottetown--huge numbers, huge numbers of people, and getting bigger and bigger every year. And they are in other cities as well.

Veterans Affairs committee  Not to this point in time, not in terms of selling any assets.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, it's not something we explained to this point. Programs that are direct benefits to clients are indexed every year at 3%. So the numbers you see here, although they may look as if they've flatlined--for instance, health care and the re-establishments--have been indexed, and if it weren't for that indexing, they would be lower.

Veterans Affairs committee  In many cases, yes, because of the veterans' age, the demands for services are much greater, and if veterans present with a health care need and are eligible based on the program, they will get those services. As we know, in the last two years of life, the costs of health care are exponentially higher than they are in the earlier years.

Veterans Affairs committee  For the others, the amounts are not indexed to inflation, and that is the way all government programming is done. There may be some erosion, but in most cases, we're fairly nimble on our feet and are able to continue to provide the same level of service by doing things a little differently, a little more smartly.

Veterans Affairs committee  In real terms they will be less. Exactly, yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  In 2008-09 the amount for internal services was apportioned across all of the programs. This is the first year it has been broken out as a separate item. That was really for transparency in terms of what are the costs of the overhead programs like finance, human resources, communications, etc.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's the way it's being displayed, a display change.

Veterans Affairs committee  Actually, there is a reduction from last year to this year. Additional moneys were carried over from the 2007-08 fiscal year that were allocated to remembrance programming last year. It was about $1.8 million for the pilgrimage that went to Korea. There were some projects that had not been finished the previous year and the moneys were carried forward.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, the pilgrimage, there were projects. There was the Green Park project in London. There was work at Vimy on the septic tanks, a septic system that was put in. There were some moneys received from Heritage. Let me see, what else do we have? The Korean website work that was done.

Veterans Affairs committee  Part of the difference as well would be the numbers that are shown for forecasted spending. The RPP would have taken out the amounts for the internal services on this document and they would be shown on item number five for last year, I believe. If we move and look at it, yes, it shows $88.5 million.

Veterans Affairs committee  I really can't speak to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. The chairman of the board would have to speak to those numbers. I can speak for the department numbers but not for the board or for the ombudsman.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I know I speak for my colleagues here today when I thank you for the opportunity to discuss Veterans Affairs Canada's strategic direction over the next few years. Members of this committee have spent a great deal of time with our staff, both here in committee meetings and in Charlottetown, to learn about our department, the challenges we face, and the services we offer.