In a word, Madam Chair, yes.
The member's first question, though, was who had voted against those progressive measures for veterans and the answer obviously is the Conservative government.
The answer to the second question is yes. I believe Colonel Stogran has the capacity, the ability, the energy, the experience, the wisdom, the intelligence, the reasonableness, the compassion and the passion to do this job.
What has hindered him, however, is his lack of independence in his ability to have the resources to do his work fully.
There is still time. His term ends on November 10. There is still time to do the right thing and do what men and women across the country, our veterans, have asked for, to reappoint Colonel Stogran.
If the government does not do that, let us take a little time to rethink the office of the veterans' ombudsman, because there are some problems there. We need to open up that discussion and ask how can we have a truly effective, a truly independent veterans' ombudsman who can actually report fully to Parliament through the minister to make changes, so that we hear directly from the ombudsman what it is that veterans are concerned about.
Hopefully it will be someone with that kind of experience. Colonel Stogran saw battle, led men and women and gave his all for this country, for our world, and the veterans' ombudsman needs to be the calibre of person again that Colonel Stogran is.
The ombudsman also needs to have his sense of humour, because he has weathered a lot of storms given to him by the other side of the House and he is still going, he is still feisty and he is still energetic. I am proud to have him as a Canadian serving the men and women who are our veterans.