Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the three witnesses for being with us today.
Sergeant Banks, thank you for your service to the country. It's a pleasure to meet you.
In your opening remarks and afterwards, you talked about the fact that facilities were in poor repair and that the services available to serving members of the armed forces were outdated and unattractive. Clearly, a career in the Canadian Armed Forces, or CAF, is not an appealing prospect. Most of these issues are known and, the vast majority of the time, have been reported to the committee by former and inactive members of the armed forces. They are people like you, people I've met in my riding who had careers in the armed forces and have talked about these issues. We seem to have a harder time when we want to consult with serving members of the CAF. I think members are more reluctant to speak openly because of the duty of loyalty.
Does the CAF have some sort of process whereby members are able to raise concerns and provide input on decisions that will have a significant impact not only on their careers, but also on their home lives and children?
Are they able to speak out, or are they stuck venting their frustrations anonymously on social media, say?
Do you think the CAF has a sound mechanism for communication?