Thanks very much, Mr. Alexander.
You know, this language has been used several times by members of the committee, that is, sort of slipping from panel to jury, jury selection, and so on. We mightn't like what the Charter of Rights says, but it's the Charter of Rights we have. The Charter of Rights clearly enshrined as a constitutional principle the notion that a court martial is different from a civilian jury trial. So it would be wrong, and I say this with respect to all of you, to take a view that the job is to deform the constitution, the clear language used in section 11 of the charter.
It boils down to the premise upon which the system of military justice exists, and that is something other than just the maximization of individual liberty. That's what the purpose is of our civil society in Canada. The purpose of military society is to maintain unit cohesion, discipline, and the willingness of people to place themselves in harm's way, and that's just different from what we expect.
There are people who know much more about the mechanics of the court martial than I do. I would happily defer to them. But in terms of the premises of the system of courts martial, I think just saying that we really have to make sure they're just like juries, and in fact we'll even slip into that language, would be contrary to the constitutional principles on which our country is founded.