Thank you to the board, staff and volunteers of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 49 Mount Arrowsmith in Parksville for such a warm welcome to the veterans appreciation luncheon on Sunday. it was nice to visit with old friends and veterans like three-year past-president Don Levesque, his wife Gwen and their daughter Dawn along with many familiar faces from my years of visiting this outstanding Legion for ceremonies and celebrations. Don has served Canada in in Suez, East Germany, and Cypress and, in his words, has "done every job there is to do” for the Arrowsmith Branch. Thanks to all the veterans and currently serving members of the military for their kind words on Sunday. At the same time, I was reminded of the work that Parliament needs to do, including the repurposing of Crown lands for military housing and better access to mental health supports to tackle operational stress injuries faced by members. Also, the backlog in disability claims for veterans continues and yet there is nothing in last week’s federal budget to identify whether all temporary staff will be retained permanently to help finally address this issue. I will be raising this again during the budget debate.
