Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank the vice-chair for his kind words when he began.
I want to welcome the NATO Veterans Organization of Canada and also the Royal Canadian Legion and all the other groups that are here. I met many of you several times over the last eight years at a number of commemorative functions where we honour veterans. I myself belong to the friendliest Legion in the region, number 632. Of 308 members of Parliament, there's one who wears the Legion pin on every suit, and that's me.
Mr. Jenkins,
as a fellow Franco-Ontarian, welcome. That said,
you will understand that I will address Mr. Moore more than you because I haven't bought my membership in your association yet, so you know I have a conflict of interest.
At this table and elsewhere in the country, we hear many people talk about the Veterans Charter and the services provided by Veterans Affairs Canada. There are veterans' groups, advocacy groups, and individuals from all aspects of the veterans' community. We just heard a few minutes ago that, as imperfect as is the Department of Veterans Affairs, many countries are just trying to catch up to what we do for veterans.
In any event, many of these people who were involved in the process that led to the Veterans Charter had lengthy consultations with the government in office in 2005 and in years before when the charter was written. I wasn't here then. There may be people at this table who were. Certainly, the government that I support was not in office at that time. I'm not going to make a lengthy statement because I want to leave more time for answers.
Mr. Moore, could you tell the committee what the Legion's involvement was in the consultation with the government of the day prior to 2005?