Today in the House, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, Greg Kerr, tabled our report – The New Veterans Charter: Moving Forward. It was a very rare unanimous report, meaning that all members of the committee and both opposition parties agree that the report and its 14 recommendations are a big step forward. We heard from 55 witnesses and many written submissions on the whole range of issues and challenges facing our veterans. The recommendations go a very long way to addressing those issues. There will always be more to do and we are committed to making this an on-going process. As always, there will be those who will be critical and want to find fault. It is their right to do that, but I think that most Canadians and most veterans will be pleased with the progress we made. So much is made about Parliament being too partisan and divisive and people wishing that we could just all get along. Well, here’s an example where we have done just that and put the issue ahead of partisan politics. I want to sincerely thank all members of the committee for making this happen. I will personally be pushing the Government to act as soon as possible to implement the recommendations as fully as possible. Following is the link to the report for your reading pleasure.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6635229&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&Language=E