I'm beginning to think, sir, that I'm a bit naive when it comes to politics. I would like to think that whoever the ombudsman is, when he or she is appointed, he or she and the minister will sit down and have a very long chat as to how it's going to work, if he or she is going to report to the minister. If I were the ombudsman, I would be saying to the minister, “You know, there are going to be some calls here that are going to probably tick you off, or your department, but that's the way it is. If I'm going to be the ombudsman then I'm going to be the one who calls the shots. Sure, you can fire me, but you're going to have to have just cause.” If the DND ombudsman--and you educated me, sir--reports to Parliament through the minister, why shouldn't the veterans affairs ombudsman do the same? It's got to be equivalent, in my mind. It's a simple soldier solution: they've got to be the same.
He or she should certainly not be a lapdog to the minister or his or her staff. It should be an independent body: neutral, unbiased, with a great deal of integrity. I use the analogy of the military. When you get the Queen's commission, you take on an awesome responsibility, because as you hear enough, Afghanistan...at a certain point in time, you are going to kill or be killed on order. And that comes with the freight of having the rank, of carrying the Queen's commission. In my case, I said to any officers who worked for me, be they in Lebanon or the Golan or over in Afghanistan, “Don't ever lie to me because if you do I'll crucify you. Your career will be finished.” It's called integrity and honesty. “If you get into a problem that wasn't necessarily your fault, I'll be the first guy to back you up, be it versus a Canadian or any other nationality; I'll stand behind you.” That's integrity.
And I would like to think that the ombudsman and the minister will come to a meeting of minds with regard to how he or she is going to work. Everybody has a boss, and the ombudsman has to have a boss. In this case, if you're going to make it to Parliament through the minister, fine. But the minister has to be involved, in my opinion.