Mr. Harris, what I can tell you is that some of the reporting in the paper today and some of the comments from the military ombudsman reflect an ongoing study the ombudsman is doing, and is scheduled, as I understand it, to report on this summer. The department will certainly look at that advice.
The intent here is obviously not to create any financial hardship for members of the Canadian Forces, who very often have to move through no fault of their own. This is the nature of military service. Postings often take them from one jurisdiction to another. Those jurisdictions may have different standards of living with respect to the cost of housing. We're very aware of the fact that there have been situations where members have been required to take up their new posting and sell their property at a loss. There's already a system in place to compensate. In many cases, they can receive up to 100% compensation for those losses, depending on the area to which they've moved.
There are Treasury Board guidelines that have to apply as well. This is not an inconsequential decision for Canadian taxpayers. We are looking at ways in which we can lessen the negative effect of a move by members of the Canadian armed forces, we are looking at ways to streamline our decisions with those of Treasury Board, and we're working on that with the good offices of the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and the Chief of the Defence Staff to see that members of the Canadian Forces are always treated fairly.