Mr. Walbourne, with the way the current system works, the deputy minister, the defence ombudsman and the judge advocate general report directly to the minister. They are order in council appointments. The government is proposing in Bill C-66 to add to that list the provost marshal general, the director of military prosecutions and the director of defence counsel services. They would become order in council appointments and would also report to the minister.
You've long advocated, as has your successor Mr. Lick, that the ombudsman's office should become a fully independent office that reports to Parliament and is properly resourced to remove political interference. Do you believe that having more people report to the minister circumvents, as Mr. White laid out, the chain of command covering up for each other with no accountability, or does it open the door for more political interference?