Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This was recommendation number seven from Afton David when she appeared at our 13th meeting. She said, “Seven, appoint an accused liaison officer, akin to a victim liaison officer, to coordinate between the accused, the chain of command and civilian processes.” She went on to say, “I think it would be a good first step as a liaison officer to have some sort of kind of requirement for communication between the civilian authorities and the military authorities in the chain of command, at the very least.” This is exactly what we tried to accomplish with the amendment that was drafted up.
Again, it comes down to some of the testimony we heard. Hélène Le Scelleur said, “Mandate rigorous, standardized, trauma-informed training across the system and introduce clear, enforceable consequences for senior leadership misconduct.”
It all ties together with supporting the victim and making sure that throughout the system, they have the freedom of choice on what system they're going into and that they're completely informed, as well as informing the chain of command back and forth by using liaison officers.