Sure.
Thanks, Professor.
I have said publicly that I wish I had done more, and, as I mentioned just a couple of minutes ago, I wish I had been a lot more aggressive in my characterization of the issue and of the problems. I'm only one person, but honestly, because of the position I was in, I submit that I probably could have done a lot more.
I did manage to hear some of the reports from the minister that came out today, but there were some problems with the video. I also am heartened by this minister and what she's been able to accomplish already insofar as not only is she accepting change and accepting that much of the responsibility lies with her, the deputy minister and the CDS, but also she is personally engaged and personally motivated to see change. I find a lot of strength in that, so I'm going to take that away.
In the military we say, “Hope is never a course of action”, but I think in this particular case, hope is a course of action, because I do see and I hear that people are anticipating a difference in the monitoring and in the fact that people will be held to account. That makes me feel good, because it's certainly something, as the professor expressed just a moment ago, that hadn't been done. There were all of these recommendations in the report that was submitted today that had not been tackled and had not been addressed. To be completely honest, it just absolutely breaks my heart to think that we have let people down, and I say “we” because I was a senior member of the Canadian Armed Forces for a very long time.