Thank you.
That's what happens: when you took her time away, she ran long.
I appreciate your comments. Far too many of us have sat on too many committees where we didn't know exactly what had been said after we'd had the presentations. I thank you for being clear on who you see this ombudsman should report to. Like Mr. Perron, I'm not sure I totally agree with you yet, but that's why we need your advice at this point.
You do say they have to have complete independence from departments and agencies. We would always hope that would be the case, but you have experience of two ministers, and it worked well, and we thank you for giving us that advice. You're obviously there, you understand the system, and you understand what success is. From that side of it, thanks for the advice and we're not sure where this is going to go. We would hope that with every minister you have to work for, and that Veterans Affairs has to work for, there would be that relationship.
You mentioned in your comments that a number of times you've phoned the minister and you talked to the chief of staff. Is that a common occurrence? Is that some way you solve problems before big investigations come about? Would that be common?