I wanted to address some of the comments that were made by my opposition colleagues, which I think were incorrect and unfair.
There are a couple of items I want to address. First is the comment made by some opposition colleagues that [Technical difficulty—Editor] hearing from members of the armed forces and victims of sexual harassment and assault. They are eagerly awaiting the release of our committee's report. They'd like us to complete that report urgently.
I want to point the members' attention to a group called It's Just 700. There's a website where there's more information available, but I quote here from the bio of their Twitter feed. It's “Run by a group of volunteers dedicated...past service members of the Canadian military who survived a work related sexual trauma find support.” I have personally had the opportunity to hear from some of the members of this organization as well.
I want to quote from a couple of their recent comments. They're from Twitter, so they're available publicly. They state, “ItsJust700 does not endorse ANY political party. The needs of affected servicemen and servicewomen don’t change with who is or isn’t in power. Lately, it feels like our community is being exploited by media and politicians for trauma porn click-bait and political leverage.”
I want to point you to [Technical difficulty—Editor] “for those consultations to BECOME meaningful, informative and useful. We want them to BE used. We've been talking for 5-6 years. It's time for action now.”
They also comment that “Delaying the release of the Status of Women report, including the recommendations that can be implemented immediately, will not serve survivors' best interests. We need help yesterday.”
Another comment is that “Culture change in the CAF will need to include systemic changes to the selection, training, health care, performance review, family support services, and realigning the CAFs core values with the progressive values held by Canadians in order to recover from this crisis.”
There are other comments along these lines, but the point I'm simply trying to make is to underline that there are many survivors—many victims—out there who are asking us to move forward. I know someone's going to say that they were referring to the status of women committee and this is the defence committee. I hear that, but they eagerly await the release of reports that will allow us to address this problem. I think it's fair to understand that they're eager for us, as a committee, to make recommendations that allow government to take action and to end the politics, which they've also criticized.
I would also add on that point that I have heard from members of that group personally that they are eager to have us deliver a report as soon as possible.
As far as the other point I wanted to make, there were a couple of members who, in my view, impugned the credibility of the clerk in suggesting the timelines the clerk offered are not correct and not consistent with past practice. One of the members [Technical difficulty—Editor] not have been in contact with the clerk. My understanding is that it's common practice for members of the committee, if need be, to consult with the clerk.
Ms. Vandenbeld is a parliamentary secretary. She's also a member of Parliament who was elected. She has the opportunity to consult with the clerk, just like I do and any other member of this committee does. That's what she did. In crafting the motion, her goal was to achieve the objective of completing this report before the end of this spring session. That's my impression anyway. She needed to consult with the clerk to figure out what timelines we would have to meet as a committee to meet that timeline. I think it's very reasonable and there's nothing inappropriate about that consultation.
There were also comments that impugned the credibility of the clerk. I think that's unfair. The clerk has been asked for input on timelines, which is completely reasonable. It's very common. Members of all parties do this on a regular basis. I just wanted to defend the good name of the clerk in this context because I thought some of the comments were unfair.
Thank you, Chair.