Okay. All right, it was a, b, and c, so that the provision would now read:
29.14 (1) The Chief of the Defence Staff may delegate any of his or her powers, duties or functions as final authority in the grievance process to an officer who is directly responsible to the Chief of the Defence Staff, except that
(a) a grievance submitted by an officer may be delegated only to an officer of equal or higher rank; and
(b) a grievance submitted by a military judge may not be delegated.
We've added c:
(c) a grievance that has far-reaching implications for the Canadian Forces may not be delegated.
I think that's designed because we have a little problem with delegating this final authority in any event, although the argument has clearly been made that there are reasons for doing this—although we don't necessarily agree with them—in terms of getting advice and having a study done and all of that. Certainly when we made this argument the last time, and we made it again, that the CDS at the end of the day is the one who, if he has the final authority for grievances, including military judges.... It's a morale issue. The notion that the buck stops here is one that I think we've had exemplary holders of the office of CDS make a very important part of their mandate and their persona. I can refer, of course, to the most recent CDS, Walter Natynczyk, who prided himself on his personal relationship with, and sense of responsibility to, all the members of the forces. The notion that the final authority rests with the CDS is a part of this and that's why we support that notion, despite our concerns, except with respect to military judges.
However, we think that if we're going to change this—and it looks as if the government is determined to change this—we should include an exception for grievances that have far-reaching implications for the Canadian Forces. That's a judgment call, clearly, and it's a judgment call that we expect the Chief of the Defence Staff to use wisely. But the indication should be that this delegation ought not to be used without the kind of consideration of the implications of a particular grievance so that the CDS keeps to himself or herself—although we've never had a female CDS yet—the final resolution of any grievance that has far-reaching implications for the Canadian Forces.