Mr. Chair, if people read the veterans report from Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, they will see the committee asked for complete independence for the ombudsman.
We know that the DND ombudsman's hands were tied. We have asked for complete freedom for the veterans ombudsman in order to look at anything the ombudsman wanted to look at, to have complete independence and be resourced accordingly. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The Conservative government of the day appointed Colonel Stogran, but put various restrictions on what he could and could not see.
This is one of the aspects of the failure of it, again where the rhetoric does not match what is said. We would encourage the Conservatives, if they will not reappoint Colonel Stogran, which we would encourage them to do, to ensure that the ombudsman, whether it be Colonel Stogran or whoever, has a lot more freedom and judicial overview in terms of what can and cannot be seen.