Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, we solve problems or complaints in an informal way. We are not the only ones to do this, I think that all ombudsmen and all citizen's protectors work in the same way. What I mean is that we emphasize efficiency in resolving issues. For instance, someone might have a certain type of problem and decide to write a formal letter to someone, somewhere, asking him to look into the situation and give an answer in writing.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, if I said that in general we do not have access to documents, I did not express myself well. What I wanted to say, is that we have had cases such as the one entrusted to us by the Chief of Defence Staff where it took a long time to get all the documents. Another aspect I would like to emphasize is that, in the case of informal inquiries, the degree of cooperation between our office and, for example, the officers of the armed forces or the Minister of Defence is very good.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think in a way there is more to that question than meets the ear or meets the eye. In addition to the point you've raised, there's also the point that if you don't have a robust legislated mandate it may take an awful lot of time before you get the information as an ombudsman.

Veterans Affairs committee  It happens on a regular basis. I don't know if that's common or not. It happens when we sometimes have files that deserve ministerial attention and I'll pick up the phone and speak to the chief of staff, or my folks will speak to people in the minister's office and we get the ball rolling.

Veterans Affairs committee  Actually, this is quite manageable for somebody like me, so let me take a stab at it. I'll start with the second one, if I may, Mr. Chairman. Concerning the 28 days that you find in the mandate, which you have referred to, it is very important to realize that the only thing this is, in a way, is a heads-up to a minister that 28 days later, or perhaps after that, a report will be made public.

Veterans Affairs committee  I like that, and to me it's absolutely essential that any veterans ombudsman has exactly the same power--28 days, or it could be 21 days. I do think that a minister needs some time, but 28 days is not the big thing. The second point is the issue of budget. Yes, I did say that we had a budget of about $6.3 million.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I was afraid, in a way, that this question would be asked, but there it is. It has been asked. It's very difficult. When you think about it all, this person would start from scratch. There would be nothing. So first of all you have to decide what kind of organizational chart you're going to have.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman--

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I am certainly not recommending that the words the member has raised are found in the mandate of the veterans affairs ombudsman. In the remarks that I haven't read, or maybe also in the parts that I have read, I think I made the point that as far as our office was concerned, there are issues that should be addressed, and certainly legislating our mandate would be one of these.

Veterans Affairs committee  Technically, the answer would be no, because somewhere in our mandate it says that for matters that occurred before 1998, this office--I--may not investigate unless I obtain the minister's authorization. So in this particular case, Mr. Chairman, I would have had to go to the minister, or my predecessor, and seek the minister's authorization to do that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Or in 1955.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, this is exactly my view, and I'm totally in agreement with this. I think there should be enough confidence put in the new ombudsman that they should be allowed to run their offices and their files the way they see fit, as I think I mentioned in my opening remarks.

Veterans Affairs committee  And from my point of view, I'm here to serve. So any time you want to meet with me—for example, after the letter is made public, if you want to discuss it—I would be happy to appear.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I clearly see why the question was asked. I understand that from the outside, there is an impression—and a well-founded one in a certain sense—that there is not much happening. As a matter of fact, it is not so. You remember that last November, I wrote a letter to Minister Graham that I subsequently published.

Veterans Affairs committee  Quite so.