Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Colonel Gibson, and thanks to your team, for your testimony today and for your support for the committee's work throughout.
In looking back at today's earlier testimony and testimony we've had from those who see problems with the amendments to Bill C-15, it becomes clear that many of them just don't want a separate military justice system. They either question its constitutionality or would like to see the system civilianized.
It strikes me, as one observer, that they haven't fully accepted the principle on which our military justice system is based, which is that there are two objectives that need to be balanced and protected, one of which is pursuit of justice, and the other operational effectiveness in the field: discipline, morale, cohesion. That second objective doesn't exist for arbitrary reasons; it exists because our armed forces do things in the field that actually are at the foundation of our civil liberties and have been for decades and indeed centuries. This balancing act is something that we have built up over a long time, and it is fundamental.
To be fair, Mr. Ruby and the Criminal Lawyers' Association did admit that they had limited experience in the military justice system, so perhaps we simply need to take their testimony with a grain of salt.
However, I drew a contrast with the approach that Mr. Tinsley was taking, because he had claimed that when he launched his investigation back in 2007, with which we're all very familiar, it was to ensure continued public confidence in the military and the military police. In my view, those hearings and that very lengthy investigation did not serve to increase public confidence. It didn't find wrongdoing, it created doubt, and it didn't help discipline, whereas all the evidence we've had, I think from credible witnesses, shows that our military justice system by and large is functioning well, although in need of modernization and in need of continuous review.
Could you tell us how those reviews will work after the amendments take place? Because this is ultimately one of the greatest safeguards of the integrity of the system, of giving us an assurance that it will keep pace with the times and developments on the civilian side, what is proposed? How will this benefit military law and members of the Canadian armed forces with regard to reviews?