Veterans Affairs committee  How is that relevant, Mr. Chair?

Veterans Affairs committee  In fact, if you'd like to know about my political background, sir, I can tell you that I joined the Progressive Conservative party in 1972. I worked for a number of Progressive Conservative MPs from 1979 to 1983—

Veterans Affairs committee  —and I worked for a Reform Party of Canada member of Parliament in 1993.

Veterans Affairs committee  Not at the moment....

Veterans Affairs committee  I was in the department of social sciences. I taught law courses in the department of social sciences.

Veterans Affairs committee  How does that relate to the new Veterans Charter?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, I can. Parliamentary sovereignty is the sense that an elected Parliament is sovereign in its field to make decisions on behalf of Canadians.

Veterans Affairs committee  Parliament is supreme.

Veterans Affairs committee  In 2011...?

Veterans Affairs committee  The only other time I have appeared before this committee was in October, when the committee talked about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. I believe it was towards the end of October. I represented the army, navy, and air force veterans association.

Veterans Affairs committee  Briefly then, the importance of your question—and it's a very good question—is addressed on pages 23 and 24 of the ombudsman's report, “Improving the New Veterans Charter: The Actuarial Analysis”. Those are the six items there on pages 23 and 24 that are extremely important—

Veterans Affairs committee  —and they were discussed yesterday at the Senate subcommittee as well.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, I checked with his staff.

Veterans Affairs committee  They were reluctant to provide me with the information. They wanted to know why I was asking for that information.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was just a verbal question. How many veterans work in the minister's office?