Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Madam Chair.
There are a number of things that we could look at in terms of independence. The sexual misconduct response centre reports to the deputy minister but is independent of the chain of command. It is an avenue for members of the armed forces to go to discuss sexual misconduct.
The ombudsman is independent. The national investigation service is independent of the chain of command. There are other avenues for reporting misconduct. Certainly we have our ADM review services, which is responsible for disclosures in the Canadian Armed Forces. There is, for civilian members, the public service disclosure process as well.
What we need to do is not create more bodies, but look at the barriers to reporting and the lack of confidence in the system within the chain of command right now by members who don't feel that their concerns will be acted upon or who have a fear of reprisal. I think those are the two things we really have to look at in the department right now.