I wouldn't make too much on the issue of having a right to trial. First, until very recently, until the Trépanier decision in 2006, that right in fact was exercised by the crown, not by the soldiers themselves.
Secondly, it's not because someone decides between two forces that are really not very pleasant--a court martial or summary trial--that he opts to and enjoys the exercise. It's like pleading guilty to a traffic ticket. You may do it just because you want to get it over with. The fact that 95% will elect to have a summary trial doesn't give legitimacy or authenticity to the process itself. I don't think it does.
One of the comments that I need to make to some of the discussion that took place between Mr. Bachand and the professor, what I almost understand to be on the table here, is that it's almost as if we have a Charter of Rights for civilians and a Charter of Rights for military. No, we don't. Any derogation in the application of Canadian law between the civilian tribunals and the military tribunals ought to be put together. A court martial is in fact subject to review, and some of them are before the Court Martial Appeal Court. Those civilian judges who sit at the Court Martial Appeal Court do precisely that in order to make sure that all of the Canadian law and all of its changes are applied as perfectly and fairly to military members as they would be to a civilian.
So there is no different system of laws, and derogations, where they are applicable, are to be restrained. In fact, Bill C-41 does exactly that. As a result of discussion before this committee and in the Senate before, when we said that up to now, because of a fairly restricted, outdated military system, we have a specific system of punishment in the military--dishonourable discharge, reprimand--but we don't have things like conditional sentences, Bill C-41 provides for that, and I agree with that. Why does it do that? It does that because of recommendation, and recommendation has been accepted by the defence department that those flexibility issues available to a civilian trial sentencing judge are now to be made available in a court martial, and I think we should applaud that.
The aim is to reduce the difference between the two, and that's the way we should be going.