Mr. Chairman, I would like to recall certain historical facts.
First, the world was witness to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Looking to this document for inspiration, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, or PET as he was known at the time, brought in his Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He stated that henceforth, this charter would take precedence over the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We're taking a reverse approach. We already have a veterans' charter and now we want to bring in a veterans' bill of rights. I have no objections to doing that, but from a legal standpoint, we need to make it clear that the veterans' charter has precedence. That would avoid any legal concerns like the ones mentioned by Peter. My expert will surely advise me on this. If we want to maintain a parallel between the veterans' charter and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we must ensure that our charter enables us to resolve any problems that may arise in connection with this document.