I'm sure it is both, but to some extent one has to have that very clearly in mind to look at the architecture of this bill. Is it an ombudsman who is going to enforce these rights by simply making a public comment that they're not being respected and that's the end of the matter? Or are there some further steps possible?
The Ethics Commissioner, when he is looking at a complaint raised by a member about another member because of parliamentary privilege, reports to the House, and it is anticipated that the House then might do something. It might not, but there is certainly an element of embarrassment to the members involved by virtue of that process. Is that where you want to go with this, or do you want to go to a court of law and enable the court to make an order, not against the particular official but against the government, that certain actions be taken or not taken?
You have the whole question of costs. You might say it's the cost of independence. It is contemplated here to have free legal services of the Bureau of Pensions Advocates. I have nothing but respect for that bureau. I don't mean to suggest anything unprofessional here, but it is a government bureau. It would not be unreasonable for a given veteran to have reservations about how much the lawyer in that office is working for him or her, as opposed to working for him or her within the context of some bureau or bureaucratic policy that puts limits on what can be done for veterans. It's just the nature of things.
In the Soviet Union everybody's lawyer was an employee of the state. That's all very nice; I'm sure many of them did their best. But the reality is they probably had some overriding policies that put constraints on what they could do for their client, whereas we have a tradition in our country, and other countries as well, that your bar—your lawyers—are utterly and completely independent, so that the only interests they have in mind are the interests of the client, and they advance those as far as the law enables them to be advanced.
Again, I don't mean to make any criticism of the Bureau of Pensions Advocates. I understand they do their jobs very professionally and very diligently, but in the minds of the veterans, some veterans might—