Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Of course, I agree with what Mr. Spengemann just said. That's the point I've been making, that this should be the focus of our committee.
When I put my hand up, it was to make the point that Mr. Baker has now made very well. That is, there are two problems. One is the culture. We should be trying to come up with solutions to that. We haven't gotten very far on that, and that's what the experts say is the problem. The second issue is that people are afraid to come forward. They don't want it to be public, etc. A lot of protections have been put into the system now to protect anonymity, to allow people to feel comfortable to come forward, to not go into a formal investigation but to come forward and air their concerns or have consultations or have counselling. They should have the choice to be anonymous as long as it fits natural justice.
Then, all of a sudden, we have a defence committee that will override their ability to remain anonymous. As Mr. Bezan said, a lot of this is in the media. That would make it much easier to identify a person to whom a document refers in some of the ones that were being brought forward under this broad umbrella of documents. Because of what's in the media already, where the documents came from could be easily perused, even though their name is not in it.
All committee members should think about that. Are we overriding the protection that we're trying to give individuals to come forward confidentially and air their concerns?
Thank you.