Certainly, we operate under part IV of the National Defence Act, and everything comes out of there.
In terms of independence, even from my own point of view, I can state that from the time I've taken the chair--and I can't comment prior to that--never have I or any of my staff been given any kind of direction, to my knowledge, that we should or shouldn't do anything. Decisions around the public interest hearing were ours.
We take a look at our mandate, our missions, who the complainants are, and make the necessary decisions. Never have we been, to my knowledge, and during my tenure.... When I say independence, it's probably the best example of independence that I've had in my career, in terms of when I think back to my police services board. I wouldn't think of my being independent from them as chief of police, but in this particular position, we clearly are able to operate within the framework of the National Defence Act without any interference. We look forward to discussions with the Canadian Forces provost marshal on a regular basis.
It is encouraging to be able to come to work and know you're not going to get the phone call and have any interference whatsoever. I can say this is the way it operates.