Madam Chair, when a study is proposed, it's because we want to investigate. It's because there have been whistle-blowers.
In any case, this may not be the case for you, but since I was appointed as the veterans affairs critic, a lot of people have been coming and going. It's important to get to the bottom of this. If everything is going well, that's great, but if things aren't going so well, the situation has to be corrected.
I tabled the notice of motion on March 23 because we were told that things were going fine. If the organizations tell us that things are going fine, I start to have questions. The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs is also one of the committees that the public listens to the most, because we're talking about their lives. Obviously, these people said to themselves, “Come on!”
It isn't a matter of hearing from people to retraumatize them or harm them. On the contrary, it's a matter of having professionals, union representatives and researchers contribute to the study's findings. Right now, if we were to compile all the testimony and table the draft study, I can tell you that not only has a lot happened since March 23, but it would be a serious failure to hear the truth.
For me, there were still some organizations left to meet with. If the Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services had come to us and said, “here are our flaws, and here's what we're going to fix”, that would have been one thing. However, that isn't quite what was said. We were instead told that, given this or that, things were going fine. However, that isn't what I'm hearing. Not a day goes by without a veteran calling me. I don't know if you get calls, but I do.
Obviously, I think that nothing in life but politics goes through major change. I have no lessons to take from my colleagues on either side. In fact, right from the start, I asked that we not engage in partisanship to try to save one side and protect another.
We want to get to the bottom of this, and we're calling for three more meetings. There are people we have not seen. We'll be able to complete the study properly so that everyone is respected and heard.