With all due respect, as I stated, no, I do take my responsibility extremely seriously. When it comes to your words and the implication that you're trying to create with that, and the “suspicion” word that you're using, I don't have the luxury to be able to come out and do this. My responsibility as the Minister of National Defence is to protect our people. By doing so, I need to protect the institution when it comes to the ombudsman's office, so that the process is protected, so that women can feel comfortable to come forward, and so that anytime there's hateful conduct, somebody feels comfortable to come forward.
I know how difficult this may be. We want answers when it comes to this. I know how difficult it used to be when I was a police officer. We would love to talk about things, but, no, we have a system in place that has to be protected, and right now the integrity of the investigation.... I can understand some of the politics that some people would like to play as well, but one thing I can assure you is that what I've said is what I can say: Two weeks ago, I was just as surprised as everyone else.