Veterans Affairs committee  I will go back to our position as an organization. We support an ombudsman who has the teeth to do the job. How that's established I leave that up to this committee, because I'm not a constitutional lawyer. I've been on the advisory council of one model and I've seen that it's had success.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a tough question and it's going to be multifaceted. First of all, there's better consultation with Veterans Affairs, which means it's not an information briefing but an exchange of information. You have contact on the ground with your constituents. You can speak to the veterans out there.

Veterans Affairs committee  A number of things will have to be looked at. There's how the veterans affairs ombudsman will be structured and how that relationship will be developed with the CF and DND ombudsman. There's the issue of exchange of privacy information, because it will probably be two separate departments.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would say two clear divisions, with the mandates and the liaison between the two departments. As well, you have to look at the privacy issues regarding exchanging information.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think from what I've read and from what I see on this committee, there's agreement that we need an ombudsman. So how we move forward on that.... I'd like to see this move forward too. To go to your comment, we have to look where we've been in order to move forward, and that's why we present some of the past to get us ahead, so that the same problems do not arise, as we're developing this important office.

Veterans Affairs committee  Oh, I think you could. That's why, as an organization, we want to see something that works. How is that done? I'm not a constitutional lawyer. There are many models out there. I think with the SISIP thing, too, we're also dealing with an outside insurance agency. The ombudsman at Veterans Affairs--and I'm taking a guess--would deal with internal matters and maybe it might be resolved better.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we agree.

Veterans Affairs committee  Do you mean the committee?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we're aware of that.

Veterans Affairs committee  We did approach the committee, yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  Our membership right now, the organization itself, is 1,000, but we are also in, for example, with Mr. Gollner, the regimental associations and we have some ties in with some reserves as well. The actual membership size is 1,000.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  The two I can think of, and Larry can correct me if I'm wrong, would be the initial application process, because that's been a concern that VRAB has raised, and the relationship between SISIP and the new Veterans Charter. You have to understand that under the new Veterans Charter, with the 75% income replacement, if SISIP kicks in first then Veterans Affairs doesn't have to kick anything in.

Veterans Affairs committee  That would be great. I'd like to see that, I really would. But the problem in the veterans associations is everybody protects their era of operation. So Bosnia was different from Afghanistan, and Korea is different from this, and you have these splinter groups and you have a lot of egos.

Veterans Affairs committee  One document that was entered in June from the Ontario Legion Command stated they were not involved in the consultation process in the new Veterans Charter. That was one document that would lead to that.