Thank you.
I've listened today with great interest to what you've had to say so far. There are a number of things you've said that I completely agree with and a number of things that I question, but this is only my personal view.
You said the ombudsman doesn't serve anyone other than veterans. I agree with you. He doesn't serve the Speaker and he doesn't serve Parliament. His job is to serve veterans. He should probably answer to the minister, because the minister is held responsible by elections, but that's my point of view.
I had to chuckle when you said committee decisions sometimes take forever. I couldn't agree more. One of the problems—and it's your fault—is that you're one of the people who gave us the freedoms we enjoy today. Democracy is a very difficult thing. Everyone must have a say, and we're listening to a lot of different witnesses. There's something to be said for dictatorships sometimes, where you only do what you want to do.
Thank you very much, by the way, for the freedoms I enjoy today. Without people like you, we wouldn't have those freedoms today.
On the Australian ombudsman, you said a couple of interesting things. You said you didn't like the idea that he served both. According to the mandate of the military ombudsman, his job is to deal directly with complaints from serving members of the Canadian Forces. The ombudsman who would deal with veterans would deal with people who were no longer serving and had already served. I know you said you didn't like it.
Is it a problem that the ombudsman would have to serve two masters, Defence and Veterans Affairs? Do you think it's too big a load for one person to handle both Veterans Affairs and Defence? What did you base your comments on, sir?