Thank you. I appreciate that, Admiral. It's duly noted.
It's much like our police services, our fire services. If we want people to feel like they really are first-class Canadians, then make sure they're reflected in the way we run the country.
I appreciate very much hearing that.
My colleagues have raised concerns about language issues. I'd like to move to a gender issue. There was a disturbing article in Maclean's in May, and there have been other reports of potential harassment of female recruits and that the dropout rate of women is much higher. In fact, from 1989 to 1996, 32% of women dropped out of the army, both voluntarily and involuntarily, compared to 11.9% for men. And in 1996--I guess those are the latest statistics available for this article--15% of women and 8% of men.... I don't want to get into the details. You know what I'm getting at.
Give me the assurances. I want to hear that these kinds of things are being addressed and that we're making sure our armed forces are as welcoming to women as they are to men.