I think that's right. The staff who work closely with me know that there was one breakfast meeting I would never miss. It wasn't really a meeting; it was a breakfast. It was a working breakfast with some of the members of the armed forces known as the Awesome Women with Rank. They were the most senior women in the armed forces who got together and shared with me some of their stories.
As I said in my opening, I've reflected a lot on what I did and didn't learn from them, because maybe there were different ways I could have asked questions or created an even safer space for some of the conversations, or maybe not. These are the things one reflects on after the fact.
However, I did learn so much in those conversations. There were stories about what it was like to try to.... I know there are members of this committee who can speak to these stories as well, but I learned from them stories about what it was like to try to find child care on bases and stories about uniform issues. We talked about power and power dynamics within the armed forces as they relate to gender and beyond gender.
I've reflected publicly that I felt really honoured to be there. I have also reflected on whether, if I hadn't been a woman as chief of staff, I would have been welcomed at that breakfast. I knew that I was particularly privileged to be in a position that I could go into a room like that. I was especially pleased when one of them suggested—and we made it happen—to invite the Prime Minister to join them one morning. It's actually a day that I have previously referred to as one of my favourite days on the job.