Thanks very much to honourable member for the question and the opportunity to be clear about this.
Let me say that, from the Veterans Affairs Canada perspective, there was no questioning of the validity of the issues as they're coming forward from the veterans. There was a desire to hear the details and to seek validation for what was being stated and what was being alleged in terms of the counsel they received.
In every case that was brought forward through suggestion or allegation, we sought to get that validation directly from the veteran or from those who might have come forward, suggesting that they knew veterans. We asked them to encourage those veterans to come forward. As the minister has indicated and as we indicated the last time here at committee, if they're not comfortable coming forward to the department—we understand that some might feel some trepidation, if they had a bad experience, to come back to the place where they had that bad experience—they can come forward to the ombud, raise that issue directly with the ombud and indicate it.
It's very important to get to the bottom of the issue and the specificity of what was raised.