Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I think all of us were very impressed with the courage of the couple who appeared on Tuesday. In a way they are representative of many veterans and their families who have dealt with the red tape and lack of timeliness in their dealings with Veterans Affairs, or DND in this case. While I believe the public service does its best, there are systemic issues that need to be dealt with.
I think it would be a way to thank the couple for appearing, that what they said was important enough that we have asked the ombudsman to look at the testimony, and that in due course, without any undue pressure on him or his office, which is in evolution, that they look at this as a terrible example of what it's like for some veterans to deal with the department. Particularly as the husband in this case is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, for people like him, red tape and timeliness are even more important. It's bad enough that you have a leg injury, but if it's a mental injury, then I think those concerns add to the injury. If it was just a leg injury, it wouldn't add to the injury, but in this case the mental injury does.
I want to pass a couple of grammatical corrections to the clerk, but I won't bother the committee with those minor details.
I'd like to move this motion. It's our first, and I presume, as a committee, we can make references to the ombudsman. He will do what he sees fit with any recommendation or reference from us, but to get the ball rolling, something we've heard more than once, I thought we could pass that testimony on to the ombudsman.