I'll use myself as a case here. I was diagnosed with three cancers in 2017. I opted for certain medical procedures, or complementary medicine. I had nowhere to go except to use my own money. There was a statement made that Veterans Affairs compensates and provides benefits only to veterans. The ex gratia payment that was provided in 2011 also included veterans, civilians and family members, so, to me, that was an inaccurate statement.

Because there was a sunset clause, the last payments that could be issued through the ex gratia were on December 31, 2011. There was no way to apply for any compensation after that date.

Where I see a problem is that some illnesses and some cancers are diagnosed later on. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is generally diagnosed after the age of 60. When they did their study in the fact-finding project, they never took into account long-term illnesses. Currently there's really no recourse for any civilian member, whether it be an employee of national defence, a family member of a veteran, or a community member who may have been affected, especially with the dioxins at Gagetown. When I was growing up there, for many individuals and many family members, we engaged in recreation where they sprayed. We fished in the brooks. We drank the spring water. We ate the blueberries. I mean, we burned wood in the wintertime.

Throughout my life, I had many illnesses, and I lost a child three days after birth at the age of 20. I had endometriosis, and I had colitis. How does one person end up with all those illnesses?

At the age of 61, I end up being diagnosed with three separate cancers, not related at all. On compensation, I think there needs to be some brainstorming to identify a framework that will help those who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, including even the ones today like the PFAS.

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