Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It would have been nice to be able to call you by your first name, Greg, and to have you call me Gilles. But, on page 2 of the speech that you have just read to us, you insult me and you insult the members of the committee. On the subject of the ombudsman, you say "And I want to thank all of you for the very important work you did in this committee in making those achievements possible."
Give us some credit, Mr. Minister. You will recall that a unanimous report from the Committee on Veterans Affairs was tabled in the House. All the members of the committee here present worked hard on that report. We asked that the ombudsman's position be created under an act and report to the House.
Witnesses as distinguished as Mr. Marin had their behinds in the same seat as yours is in at the moment, asking for the ombudsman position to be created. The only ones to ask that the ombudsman report to you, dear Mr. Minister, are the following. There was the ombudsman from the Ste. Anne's Hospital. When we questioned him, he spent more time singing the praises of the director general than addressing the problems that the hospital was facing. Mr. Côté, the National Defence ombudsman, who is no longer in office, also said that the ombudsman should report to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. The third was a witness from Australia whose name I really do not remember. He came to tell us that the ombudsman should report to you, but that was very clumsy on his part, because, at the time, he had a part-time contract position in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Minister, do not say that you cooperated with us. You completely ignored the report and the work done by all members of the committee, including your friends on the other side of the table. That work was conscientious, non-partisan, and had only the welfare of the veterans in mind.
The same thing happened with the Veterans Bill of Rights. We were in the last stages of our report when, with great fanfare, you announced a Veterans Bill of Rights. Mr. Minister, you did not cooperate with the Committee on Veterans Affairs. You did what you wanted, you did whatever you chose.
Thank you.