Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Harris will use the remainder of my time.
I want to come back to you, Major-General Cathcart.
I am still struggling to understand what would justify a simple administrative penalty being imposed. I am not talking about harassment here, but about sexual contact, physical contact. I will give you the gist of an article published in L'actualité, where the unit commander's role throughout the process is discussed:
If he stays out of the police investigations, a commander can still, in some sexual assault cases, get involved in the charges. It all depends on the seriousness of the action.
If the National Investigative Service has determined that it is not its responsibility to prosecute, that responsibility falls to the commander, the accused person's superior. Here is more from the article:
Based on the facts gathered by the police officers, the unit commander decides whether their subordinate will have to answer for his or her actions before military justice or whether simple administrative penalties suffice.
That brings me back to my question.
What is the justification—in the case of sexual touching over clothing—for a unit commander to decide that an administrative penalty applies, while in the civilian world, this is considered a criminal offence?
That is the question I would like you to answer.