I called him today and said I was going to be seeing you. He said to say hello.
On the issue of communication, we hear that an awful lot as a committee, and it doesn't matter which party you're with. What's the best way to communicate? Is it through the Internet? Is it online? Is it through newsletters? Is it through public forums? Is it through the Legion? How is it? It's probably a combination of every one of them, right?
I tend to agree with you on the one-on-one, given the cultural concerns of the first nations people, because of the differences of their culture as compared to the traditional culture that we have in Canada.
As Madame Hinton indicated, that would be a challenge to do. It's easy to say that, but it's difficult to accomplish it. I'll definitely take that back.
As a sidebar, I appreciate Mr. Anders' concerns on the aboriginal regiment. I actually never thought of that myself, but I think it could have some very good merit down the road. We did have the black No. 2 Construction Battalion, the first all-black battalion in World War I. They had to go to places like Vimy Ridge with only shovels. They were only allowed to dig and work; they couldn't shoot until the very end, when someone thought, maybe we had better give these guys a gun to help them out.
You've had an opportunity now to meet with this committee, and you've had an opportunity to meet the ombudsman. Have you had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Thompson or his staff to discuss some of these recommendations you have? Have you requested an opportunity to meet with him at a time that's convenient to go over some of these recommendations?