Thank you.
Through you, Chair, I'm going to direct my question to Dr. Breeck.
In testimony before this panel on November 6, Megan MacKenzie made a point of spelling out.... If I'm finding it correctly, Professor MacKenzie said:
I would just reiterate that the idea that having a choice is somehow better for survivors is actually [I would say] inaccurate for most of the victims and survivors that I've spoken to. In the moments following an incident of sexual violence, it is very difficult for a victim to understand the consequences [of that] and the complexity of that choice. The default position for many survivors is to work within the military justice system, not because they think it's [a] better [system] but because that's the system they're in. It's the institution they trust.
Many survivors, after that process, wished that they had been given a different option and are not satisfied with the choice.
We know, from the same research that she mentioned here, that there needs to be clarity for the victim and a regaining of their trust in the ability of the military system to deal with criminal offences.
Do I take it to understand that you, however, believe that having that choice is fundamentally somehow better for the complainant in these cases?
I don't mean to pit you against another witness.