Veterans Affairs committee  Nobody's perfect.

Veterans Affairs committee  If you report to Parliament, the minister has no power over you, so he can say what he wants. If you report to a minister, that's when you run into problems. That's why I don't recommend that the veterans ombudsman report to the minister.

Veterans Affairs committee  Actually, the way this clause is interpreted is that when you're going to make a final recommendation, you're giving the minister an opportunity to respond before you finalize the report, so I don't think it's a bad one. The language used is “must consult”. The language could be

Veterans Affairs committee  It takes a lot of fortitude to weather all the storms that will happen in the course of a five- or six-year term. That's why I recommend a reporting relationship to a parliamentary committee such as this one, or to Parliament.

Veterans Affairs committee  The ombudsman is not an advocate. The ombudsman is an independent, impartial body. So before the ombudsman takes a position on an issue, I have to be convinced that a decision, policy, or practice is unjust, unfair, or discriminatory. Once you've convinced yourself there is such

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.

Veterans Affairs committee  When the position in Ontario became available, an ad was published in the Globe and Mail. A committee made up of an MLA from each political party and chaired by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, not the Premier, reviewed the applications and called candidates for an interv

Veterans Affairs committee  I think your reasoning is good.

Veterans Affairs committee  It works. For me, the appointment experience was positive. All of these methods ensure the non-partisan selection of a candidate.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it's an excellent position; it's very logical. I am in favour of a renewable mandate; however, I think a term of six years is an excellent suggestion.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you.

Veterans Affairs committee  My advice for the jurisdiction of the ombudsman is to keep it simple. I ran into this in my other job when we were defining our mandate in 1998. You shouldn't have a list from A to Z of what the ombudsman shall do and try to define everything, because every time you have a case s

Veterans Affairs committee  I am.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Veterans Affairs committee  It goes to a parliamentary committee. In Ontario, it's the Board of Internal Economy, which is a committee at Queen's Park that sets budgets for officers of Parliament and other areas. That allows the budget issue to be assessed independent of government, and it has been a very e