Veterans Affairs committee  I'm a little bit surprised that you say you get many inquiries into your office, because there can't possibly be that many of them left from 1981.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm going to leave part of that to Pierre, because I'm not sure what effect an ombudsman would have on that at all. But you will recall that they have suggested that it is one department that is understaffed; they are short of people, and they've been trying for a while to increase the number of people in the VRAB.

Veterans Affairs committee  If I may just finish that off, you spoke of a lack of trust in the department out in the field. I'm not sure that's it; we mentioned the surveys earlier. But I'll tell you what does happen: anybody who is not satisfied with the answers they get from the department is immediately not only distrustful, but they can also be very vocal about it.

Veterans Affairs committee  First and foremost, I'm sorry you feel that talking to the Legion is like talking to your grandparents. Believe me, son, I'm not that old.

Veterans Affairs committee  However, as far as when the issue of the ombudsman first arose is concerned, as long back as I can remember being involved, it would come to the front every so often. When was the Woods commission? Was it in the sixties?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, and it's been on the burner ever since in various areas, but—I keep harping on this—we have never sat down together and said, this is what we think an ombudsman should be. That is what made the difference this morning. No, I don't wish to make public the things we were kicking around at this time—some of them will go out the window and some of them will be incorporated—and it is not my place to do so.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm going to just give a couple of suggestions. Then I'll turn it over to Mr. Allard. First and foremost, I would suggest that it is entirely possible that an ombudsman could play a very significant role in seeing that the rights from the bill of rights are carried out, that this would be one of their responsibilities.

Veterans Affairs committee  The short answer is you are quite correct. We have never been totally adverse to an ombudsman. But we are not going to jump into something until we know what we're jumping into. The other thing is that we wish to be consulted in the mandate for the ombudsman, whatever it may be.

Veterans Affairs committee  You ask the tough ones. Just before I answer that, I would like to go back to your first comments regarding the ombudsman and his going into other areas in which he might be able to help the veteran.

Veterans Affairs committee  Or she. I'm partial to men. That is something our service officers do, both at branch level and command level. They look to other areas as well as at what the Legion or Veterans Affairs has to offer. They will assist the veteran with municipal, provincial, federal help--anything they may know about.

Veterans Affairs committee  I could probably give you a better answer given a little more time to think of it. But I would say veterans have the right to receive fair and equal treatment irrespective of rank, position, or status. Everybody gets fair and equal treatment. The other thing I'm very strong on personally is the privacy issue.

Veterans Affairs committee  Your last question, sir, is the easy one. Perhaps not by individual provinces, but overall we have just over 1,500 branches across Canada. Ontario, of course, would have the greater number, being the larger geographical area. Prince Edward Island, being the smaller area, does not have so many.

Veterans Affairs committee  Not off the top of my head. I wouldn't want to make a statement on that without having a more accurate source. To be quite truthful, it isn't something I've looked at recently to see what the ratio is. It hasn't seemed of vast importance because we are there for our veterans and their dependants, and if you're a veteran yourself or a civilian, as long as you're working toward the cause, that's what's important to us.

Veterans Affairs committee  That is a very interesting question. To my knowledge, it isn't an area that anybody has gone into. You have given us food for thought. Unfortunately, I can't give you much of an answer, but it will be interesting to add that to the things we want to think and talk about.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for all those questions. I can't begin to remember what the ones in the middle were. Your first question was on consultation on the new Veterans Charter. I can answer that one. There was tremendous consultation with the veterans organizations. This has been going on for six years.