I don't want to diminish the seriousness of any individual behaviour, particularly of somebody who is in a position of trust and leadership responsibility. Conduct and behaviour at the top matter a great deal. I'm not trying to deflect from the seriousness of the issue and why this committee would want to be looking at it and how this was responded to.
I think collectively the system failed. It let down the complainant and let down the women and men of the armed forces. I deeply regret that. In fact, I would like to apologize to them if my decisions, or decisions not to do something, prolonged this. I sincerely apologize to the men and women of the forces for that.
On the other side of the ledger, if the committee wants to argue that suspending or firing General Vance in the summer of 2018 would have made everything right, I don't think Canadians would believe that either.