Thank you to the minister for appearing today.
I too would like to send my condolences to Mrs. Kramp-Neuman and her family. With a parliamentarian in the family, I understand what that can do in terms of being a public face.
Minister, just to pick up from where Madam Normandin was speaking, I'm very excited to hear that you believe in the independence of the ombudsman. In fact, I'm sure you know that I tabled a bill just last fall, Bill C‑362, to establish the office of the ombudsman for defence and to have him or her, whoever it may be in the future, report directly to Parliament.
On your statement saying that you would like to take that to Parliament, you could, absolutely. I, sadly, am not very early on the list of precedence for private members' bills, but certainly the government could introduce that at any time. To adopt that bill would give the ombudsman the truly independent view that he himself has asked for and that his predecessor asked for.