Once again, I think this is insightful and it cuts right to the heart of the matter, Mr. Perron. I agree with you 100%. This is why an ombudsman is so important.
When an organization says that they represent x number of individuals, whether it be in favour of a charter or whether it be in favour of a bill of rights, Canadians trust--and I think as parliamentarians you have to trust--that they're telling you the truth, that they do actually represent the views of their membership.
However, in the case of something like the Veterans Charter, it was absolutely impossible for those representatives to have consulted their membership. That's the tragedy in the whole deal. I agree that we cannot go and talk to 210,000 Veterans Affairs clients. That would be absolutely absurd. But the department has made things highly secretive and highly inaccessible. For instance, the Veterans Affairs CF Advisory Council provided excellent work, but its minutes were never made public and it was suspended without notice. The members, to this day, have never received a letter telling them why they don't meet any more.
The special needs advisory group was in the same situation in terms of secrecy. They were sworn to confidentiality, not just about taking the testimony of individual clients but about all the issues discussed. In the Canadian fashion, I think there can be a middle road. We can't consult with everyone, but we can certainly do a lot better than the secrecy that has been carried out so far.
The Legion set an excellent example with their bill of rights. They posted it on their website and asked for input from their membership. In that sense, we have faith that this does represent a large number of their members. Why can't Veterans Affairs do the same thing in terms of reaching out, especially with the high-technology forums we have today?
Apparently, the bill of rights is now sitting at its fourth or fifth draft. Not one of the general VAC clientele has access to even one draft, nor have the committee members seen one. From a personal point of view, I think it's absolutely absurd that there's no accountability and transparency in such a consultation process.