Thank you for the question.
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is an improvement on where we were years ago. However, in my view it's a limited advancement. It's somewhat limited.
I can tell you that since June, because I listened to what the Judge Advocate General said, and the VCDS, the other day, we have used this particular provision twice so far. In two cases we have made recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff that the ex gratia payment provision could be used, in our view, in two cases. These two cases are still pending, which is why there have been no decisions yet. So I can say before this committee that we've used it twice.
However, I must reiterate that, in our view, it is short of the Lamer recommendation to provide financial payment ability...like in tort, and ex gratia; it's somewhat limited.
I'm not a lawyer, but the way I understand ex gratia is that if there is a rule, if there is a regulation, that cannot be used to circumvent or to fill in a gap. So if Treasury Board has decided to limit in the CBI a specific benefit, ex gratia cannot be used to complement it, restrict it, backfill it, etc. It's limited to those rare exceptional circumstances where no other remedy is available.
So it is a pace forward. It is short, in my view, of the Lamer recommendation, but I cannot say it's a move backward. In all honesty, it's a move forward. We've used it twice so far.