Veterans Affairs committee  That's a great question. It's one that annoys me. What happens is this. If it's a complex case, and depending on what is written on the form, our nurses refer it to our own doctors for, I'll call it, a second opinion, for an assessment. We're actually working on limiting the number of times that happens.

Veterans Affairs committee  Services fall under me, so I will try to answer that, but I don't have a date. I can't give you date. Even if I had a date, I can't, because we've had a huge increase in.... I'll just touch on adjudications.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for the question, and I thank you for your efforts. This is not the first time you've hammered me on how many resources I need. I'm very happy that we received the $42 million.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are numbers, but the issue we actually have is—

Veterans Affairs committee  I mean, the $42 million we have now will go a long way—

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't because it's government privilege and it was given to cabinet. We have asked for money and we received the $42 million, and I'm very thankful for that. What we need to remember is that there's a lag between the time the money is approved and the time the production starts going.

Veterans Affairs committee  We're spending approximately $1 million a year on that line. I'm rounding the figures, but it is approximately $1 million a year. Last year we had over 1,300 calls and referrals. This year it's around the 1,600 call mark. Following your comments a couple of weeks ago at another committee meeting, they came back to me.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's not that complex to keep the statistics. We're actually really digging in to what the statistics are. It is not easy to close a file, because we're talking about a disability award or a disability pension. We're talking disability. We're talking dealing with health professionals.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, we have no opening comments, so we'll turn it right over to the questions.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for the question, sir. Just to clarify, by the posters, do you mean the articles that went into the newspapers and things like that, or is there another poster?

Veterans Affairs committee  They don't have to ask for it. The case manager—we call them the VSA, the veteran service agent—can say, “You know what; we need to go there.” Before, it used to go to these bequest funds.

Veterans Affairs committee  Now they have a fund they can go to. Often what it allows us to do is to put somebody in their hotel room while we determine what their actually eligibility is for our other programs. Is there a service-related injury or not? This one, I think, is real.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's hard to predict. I suspect it's going to go up, but don't ask me to what extent. I just think that once it gets better known and the program is out there, we'll see a bit of a bump-up. I don't think it will be a huge bump-up as long as the program remains as it is. I think it will be a result of increased awareness.