Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, any confidence that I may have exhibited regarding my renewal was certainly not confidence; it was basically that I didn't care at the time. As an army officer, you do the mission and you worry about the consequences later. I wouldn't begin to speculate on the actu

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I think the first recommendation would be.... If I've done one thing right in the past three years it has been to put veterans as the absolute priority in establishing and maintaining their trust, confidence, and loyalty, and reaching out to them, not spending time

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, first, I appreciate the comments by the honourable member. I would like to emphasize that the people within the system are not the problem. Many employees of the department and members of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board have come to us complaining about the s

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I would be only too pleased to. What I would say is too prevalent in the “benefit of the doubt” as it's interpreted by the department and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is that it's too legalistic. And when the only tool you have in the drawer is a hammer, yo

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, yes, in fact, at some confidential meetings I made it very clear that my first priority to offer veterans the enduring and substantive change they deserve is to have representation inside government. I've urged not only a legislated ombudsman, but also perhaps a sim

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I couldn't agree more. The programs and benefits to our veterans have been systematically dismantled since the Woods committee submitted this report. I would say that the commitment and sacrifices that a so-called peacekeeper makes today are absolutely no differe

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, once again I would love to be able to give a straight answer, but I am in the process now of.... I have submitted a privacy complaint. I hope to find out conclusively who was involved in looking into my file and particularly for what purpose. In terms of how it ma

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, first of all, as the Veterans Ombudsman, I don't feel it is my place to comment on the action taken by the minister and the government of the day. That's up to voters to determine whether it's adequate and if, indeed, all of the other departments are squeaky clean a

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, that's a huge question. I have expressed to the minister my own view that Ste. Anne's should be turned into a national centre of excellence for mental health issues. It's a facility that has huge potential. I think by being proactive, as I have suggested in my ope

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I can only speculate on that. Suffice it to say that there were individuals identified on that list of 400 who had no business looking into my file. At the time, I presumed that it was just the curiosity of people who had access to the files and were interested in

Veterans Affairs committee  I would have to reflect on the priorities as I presented them. First and foremost, the veterans and their families need and deserve a legislated ombudsman who can cross departmental boundaries and enter into any discussions in the Privy Council Office or Treasury Board Secretaria

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, I would defer that to the Privacy Commissioner. I recognize that in the so-called Veterans Bill of Rights I am presumably mandated to investigate complaints regarding the privacy of veterans; however, I would say, first of all, that the so-call

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I think once again I'd have to reflect on my comments. First, I think the culture within the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and the department must be changed, and it would not be difficult at all, with direction from the top, to do so in the short term. Likewis

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the committee for allowing me to make one more appearance before the end of my term as the Veterans Ombudsman. I was invited to appear before the committee to explain the activities of the Office of the Vete

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was a little torn after meeting with the Legion, because I'm a big believer in personal property rights. But I believe the amendments we made today really strengthen this bill and address the crux of what the Legion was talking about. The members from t