I'll answer both your question and Mr. Stoffer's question. I have to say that when I got into this job two years ago that was one of my first questions. The department said they had a very high rate of satisfaction and I said, “Who did you ask?” If you only ask the people who get the service, you probably will get a higher number. I was briefed, and I could provide more information, but we're asking both the ones who are getting yes and the ones who are getting no as an answer in our sampling of services.
When people are not satisfied, I think it is fair for me to say that the redress mechanisms available to our clients are probably more extensive than what you have in the many countries that provide services to veterans. I refer to the fact that if you make an application and are dissatisfied with the decision by the department--it may be that you get a yes, for example, on a disability pension, at 40% of disability, but you feel you should be at 50%--then you can ask for a review by the department, and we'll do the first review. If you're still not satisfied, there's a second review by a higher level in the department. That's two levels of review in the department. Then you can go to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. In order to prepare you for that, you can provide more information than that which supported your initial application. You have a lawyer to help you go through what would strengthen your case before you go before the tribunal, and then you have the tribunal.
These are all put in place to make sure that if you are not satisfied with a decision by the department, you have redress mechanisms. Of course, with the introduction of a veterans ombudsman, which has been in place for just over a year, you can also appeal to him and say that you're not satisfied with the tribunal's decision. The ombudsman can identify whether or not it's a systemic issue and either raise it in his report or raise it with the minister.