Early on in my tenure as Minister of Veterans Affairs I guess on the fi
rst day I was given some pretty sound advice by the Prime Minister and those who coach new ministers, namely, that I should listen very carefully to Jack Sta
gg because he would serve me well, he would serve the Government of Canada
well, and he would serve our veterans
well, and that I would have an opportunity, knowing that Jack's days were
...[+++] probably limited in terms of being with us, to learn from the best.
À mes débuts comme ministre des Anciens combattants — c'était le tout premier jour, j'imagine —, le premier ministre et les gens chargés d'orienter les nouveaux ministres m'ont donné un conseil judicieux: écouter soigneusement Jack Stagg, car il me servirait bien, il servirait bien le gouvernement du Canada aussi et, de même, il servirait bien nos anciens combattants — et que j'aurais l'occasion, en sachant que le temps qu'il lui restait parmi nous était probablement limité, d'apprendre auprès d'un maître.