Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I'm not sure I understand. The lack of an ombudsman on behalf of a past member of the Canadian Forces is being referred to. I'm in that position now, and I certainly would take that on with a sense of urgency. We've had upwards of 150 complaints come into the offic

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, in all honesty, I have spent the last two weeks focused on gaining an understanding of veterans issues, as well as defining in my mind exactly what an ombudsman means in terms of research. I have not had an opportunity to go line item by line through the budget. It wou

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I've been doing a lot of thinking, not necessarily directly in that respect. Suffice it to say that because of the relationship I'm developing with the defence ombudsman, and because we want to be an inclusive organization and have that human touch--and certainly retir

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, with all due respect, that's a highly speculative question. In the first instance, I will flatly refuse to get drawn into political debates; that's in my background and upbringing. My place is with the veterans and to champion their causes. The only situation where I m

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the DND ombudsman has actually been a tremendous help to me in my teething weeks at the job. He has a considerable amount of experience in many issues that affect veterans. One of my expectations coming into the job was that I would be the Veteran Affairs counterpart t

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, once again, I've formulated a philosophy, although the exact mechanics are yet to be determined. At the risk of being premature, and I don't want to come across like I'm thinking out loud, but my intention is to have representatives from each of the generations of oper

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned in my opening statement, the idea of putting a personal face on the office of the ombudsman means we're going to endeavour to make the office of the ombudsman the go-to place for anything to do with Veterans Affairs. Indeed my approach to business is

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the committee has not been set up. I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks consulting with individuals, as well as veteran organizations. I have come up with a concept of operations for the advisory committee, and I can say that it reflects very closely th

Veterans Affairs committee  A Helping Hand for Veterans? Yes, sir.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, when I say “veterans”, I mean the member as well as the family. I was in Bosnia during the gunslinging days of 1993, where we were sending peacekeepers over to be witnesses or hostages to the situation. At that time, when this was considered to be a bloodless offeri

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I'm going to try to answer in French. I've already obtained the level required by the public service, but I have never had the opportunity to work in French. That will be one of my priorities in the next few years.

Veterans Affairs committee  If you don't understand my answer, I can finish it in English. You asked me whether I was a political representative. That is not the case. My mandate will be in effect for only three years. If the government does not give me the opportunity to remain in the position, that will

Veterans Affairs committee  If my answer is satisfactory, yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I know that the minister has an obligation to submit the reports I prepare to Parliament. It is up to me to determine what will improve the lives and welfare of veterans. The minister will not have an opportunity to change what I believe. As I have already said, my

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, it's indeed too soon for me to state categorically whether or not the mandate is too loosely written or not something that I'll be able to work with. However, in my opinion, I've always been the kind of person for whom the absence of direction is an opportunity, not a