On the question of my role, in the first instance, what I have learned in the last year and a half is what an ombudsman is and what an ombudsman contributes to an organization. I must say, I am a huge fan of the idea of an ombudsman. I do not necessarily agree that the position must be legislated, but there does have to be a degree of respect for the role if we are going to have an ombudsman. I would not begin to speculate as to the reason why the government would bring this position into being, and I must say there have been problems, particularly with the DND Ombudsman, that we have been experiencing in exactly the same vein.
What I find particularly discouraging is when we try to conduct ourselves on a professional level, and when I do report...and I spend an inordinate amount of time. I consider it my primary duty to integrate with the veterans' community, to understand it from the grassroots, and to report on it as I see it. I think I offer a service to government in that vein. I find it particularly disconcerting when I am publicly called insensitive, when people say that my actions pale in the extreme, when this relates to my not turning over the names of homeless veterans, protecting their privacy.
I have met enough homeless veterans in the past year and a half to know that they are very private people. Many times the people who are on the street are more private than the average citizen. I met one Second World War veteran who did not want to meet with me initially because he wanted his privacy. He was afraid that because I was coming from Veterans Affairs, the very little that he was collecting from Veterans Affairs was going to be taken away from him, and he wanted to maintain his privacy.
I was criticized publicly for not turning over the names and violating, not only the Privacy Act, but the confidentiality that the public expects of a person in a public office such as an ombudsman.
Once again, I think the role is extremely useful if it's treated in a professional manner. I would never expect to have an ombudsman who has the power of binding recommendations, because that being the case, the ombudsman becomes part of the problem.
Suffice to say, Mr. Chair, that I think the mandate as given to me is a workable one. So much is dependent on the personalities involved and the intent behind it, but I would never hazard to speculate what the intention was behind my office.