Mr. Chair, once again, we're still in the formative and I'd say philosophical phases, but I think I can address the member's question satisfactorily.
As I've said, to date we've had some degree of success in standing up the office, but I must say that the staffing process has been painfully slow. We're still formulating the terms of reference that allow us to get the calibre of people we want in the office. Suffice it to say that the general concept of operations we're looking at is to establish what I would refer to in a very generic sense as intake officers, who will, in the first instance, make contact with the veterans or the clients, if you will--the broader veteran community--who are seeking our services, and maintain contact with them in a personal way. I suspect that if Monsieur Côté's experiences are any reflection on the way we'll be doing business, a large part of their job will be simply referring the client to the proper place to resolve the problem.
Within that decision cycle, if you will, any problems that can be handled in a fairly immediate fashion will be handled within that intake cycle. It won't be until we identify perhaps a series of complaints that might indicate a larger systemic problem that we'll actually go to formulating specialized teams with a more focused mandate. The intention is to solve things at the lowest possible level and empower the staff to make decisions rather than to seek the guidance of higher levels of authority.