The short answer is that we need to move from a system of whistle-blower reprisals to a system of whistle-blower protections.
I would like to highlight on the record, for those who might take issue with the manner in which I've communicated certain information today, that I've been fighting this for five and a half years. I'd like to know why, at any point in the last five and a half years, this couldn't have been dealt with by any of the command authority that exists within the Royal Canadian Navy.
Part of it is about encouraging people in a similar position to feel as though there's trust and confidence that issues will be looked at or solved. They could be brought in to explain things. I find a big problem is that the military doesn't want to talk. We've covered five and a half years' worth of issues effectively in 30 minutes so far. Why hasn't anyone bothered to pick up the phone, call people and say, “Let's talk about these issues” so that everyone gets buy-in, rather than the decision just being communicated and there it is? That's fundamentally what we need so that, again, the military and the chain can be given a chance to do the right thing.
When people feel like outsiders for doing the wrong thing, we'll know we've succeeded.