Oh, sorry, Mr. Chair.
I have just a quick question.
You talked about members of the military with problems who went to the DND ombudsman, and about how if we have an ombudsman now for veterans affairs, then veterans can go the ombudsman. But a classic example is the case of a veteran dying and the spouse being left behind. We'll take, for example, VIP. A particular individual in Cape Breton was assured by a certain person, who was an opposition leader and now just happens to be Prime Minister, that the VIP services would be done immediately. Now, ten months later, they haven't been done yet. So this person has a legitimate complaint, but she's a civilian, and she's the spouse of a veteran. In the perfect world we talked about, should civilian members attached to veterans have the right to use the ombudsman's services to launch concerns, complaints, or whatever it is that they have?
For example, this particular lady is applying for VIP services. Even though the legislation is absolutely correct that the government is not doing anything illegal--the legislation states this very clearly--she's not getting exactly what the legislation states. But if she feels that she has a valid concern, in your view, should she be able to use the services of an ombudsman, as well?