Indeed, Mr. Chairman, as I said in my opening remarks, this is based on my own experience and on what I refer to as pragmatic reasons. When you are in the ombudsman business, your role is to make a real difference for the people you serve. Actual results and delivering results in a timely way are two very important considerations.
My own experience with the two ministers I've served under or with has been that the fact that you report to them can be very useful. For example, from time to time I have picked up the phone and called a minister to say that we have this issue that is burning; that I think they, as minister, should be aware of it; and that I think they should take this or that step to resolve it. I can say again that, based on what I have done and what I have lived over the last year and a half almost, this has been very productive.
There are at least two other points that I'd like to make. When legislation is developed for the veterans ombudsman, you can have very strong clauses in the legislation that say, for example, that the only way the minister can direct the veterans ombudsman will be by way of written directions, and you can provide for the publication of such written directions. Right then and there, you guarantee that before any minister issues any type of direction to an ombudsman, he or she will think very carefully before doing so. I think that is something that is easily doable in any kind of legislation that you develop.
Also, as the member suggested, Mr. Chair, there's the fact that a minister is always available and is always reachable. Wherever they happen to be, you can reach them. You can reach the chief of staff and you can ask them to look into an issue and get back to you. In a way, that also works to ensure better and more timely results for the people we serve.
Lastly, that doesn't mean a committee like yours would be taken out of the equation, so to speak. For example, if the new veterans ombudsman runs into problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs on issues like the budget—for example, he had this great mandate, but he was only given half the resources he needed—I'm sure the ombudsman could ask to be heard by you, in order to share with you the fact that he has this fundamental issue that he doesn't seem to be able to move. Quite clearly, I would assume this committee would be interested in hearing about that, and that the committee would then take steps.
All of this together suggests to me that the preferred option, based again on my experience and my own view, would be what I have said.