Mr. Chadderton, I want to commend you on an excellent presentation. I would like to ask all my questions at once, and give you my vision of how things should work, and you can answer at the end, since speaking time is more limited on the second round.
Peter, my colleague over here, and myself often find ourselves defending retired veterans in our ridings who are experiencing difficulties. We have to deal with a number of committees. I want to commend you for thinking of the idea of an ombudsman. It is a very good way of addressing the problem of large numbers of appeals and we hope it will result in a more effective process for dealing with complaints.
Be that as it may, you have talked about a two-year term. In that regard, I'm wondering whether an ombudsman would really have time to deal with all the problems associated with resolving appeals. Very often, these are administrative problems associated with the operation of the Act itself. The ombudsman's job would be to resolve these issues, as I understand it.
You are also saying that the ombudsman would be appointed by the Government. Who would recommend him? Have you considered the possibility that a committee recommend to Parliament two or three candidates that you and the responsible departments deem to be appropriate or able to meet the requirements of the position? That committee would agree on the candidates to be screened in and then it would be up to Parliament to make a decision. That kind of process would ensure the ombudsman would be fully independent and retain his credibility with veterans. He would then make recommendations to the Department, rather than actually working for it. He would work for the veterans system as a whole, as I understand it. But if he had to be a middle man between veterans and the Department, he would be caught between a rock and a hard place.
In that sense, in order for the ombudsman to be truly independent, what kind of selection process do you think would be appropriate? And finally, it seems to me we should consider giving him an initial term of five years, so that he has time to restore some order and prove his effectiveness.