Thank you.
That question is one I've been asked a fair amount by a lot of veterans groups, and you're absolutely right, it's a commitment we made during the campaign that we would deal with these two issues and bring in an ombudsman and a bill of rights.
Obviously, those are two commitments we made that we're going to honour. Now we can speak specifically of the ombudsman and the bill of rights, but I will tell you that we will consult with our veterans groups. In fact, this week the department met with all the major stakeholders, if you will, and individual veterans. So we're consulting very widely and we're examining other jurisdictions so that when we do it, we'll get it right.
Some of those jurisdictions have a great reputation in terms of how they deal with their veterans, as does Canada. Some of those countries do have a bill of rights and some of them do have ombudsmen. Among those jurisdictions that have some of the models and that the department has already consulted are Australia, United States, and Great Britain. They've gone to some of those jurisdictions to examine what they have versus what we might consider.
What encourages me.... The other night we met with the veterans groups and we broke bread together, as I often say. We had a chance in a setting somewhat like this to sit down over a meal and talk about some of the challenges there. We met with the Royal Canadian Legion president, Mary Ann Burdett, and most interesting of all, with Cliff Chadderton, who was actually involved with the committee stage back in the Parliament of Canada some 40 years ago, when it discussed how the office of an ombudsman would work, if you will. It's quite refreshing that time doesn't change a lot of things. There have been a lot of changes in 40 years, but some of the proposals they were considering back at that time are still relevant.
In the talks we have engaged a lot of people, and what we say is that nothing is etched in stone. I do know it is something the committee is going to look at as well, so we need your input. And, Mr. Chair, I know your committee is focused on helping us on that issue.
As we say, the book is still open. When we do it, we want to get it right, and we will get it right with your help.
Thank you.