Mr. Speaker, once again I want to bring to the attention of the Minister of National Defence that for over two years the Lannon family of Truro, Nova Scotia has had an ongoing dispute with the Department of National Defence regarding health benefits and assistance that they feel is due to a member of the Lannon family as a result of his service in the Canadian Forces.
I appreciate that the minister has met with me on several occasions on this, but the fact of the matter is that this situation is still unresolved.
The ombudsman for the Department of National Defence has reviewed the file and, in his letter, has said “This matter was reviewed and I have recommended to the minister that the matter should be investigated further”.
The minister has to provide permission for the ombudsman to investigate the matter, and in that regard I ask that the minister give that permission.
The issue has been outstanding for far too long and I strongly urge the minister to comply with the ombudsman's request to have this matter investigated further. This is on behalf of the Lannon family and just on behalf of common sense.