Thank you, Chair.
Thank you all for being here, in particular, Deputy and Commodore.
I spent a few months as my party's defence critic. One of the things I came away with was a better understanding that esprit de corps in the armed forces is everything. It is so critical.
I have to admit that as I was going through this, my emotion was one of sorrow more than anger. I was saddened that we, you, the department, let our forces down so severely in an area that is so crucial to Canadian values, and that is a fair justice system. For the most part, when you sign up, you pretty much turn your life over to the department, and there is an obligation.... It's disheartening to think that an important part of our defence department could be operating so poorly and so incompetently.
There are two pieces to this, as I see it. One is the deputy minister being accountable for the implementation of policies overall. There's a failure here. That's at your doorstep, Deputy, and that's partly why you're here. That's part of the accountability process. That stands alone. You and your minister carry the can for that.
Now, drilling down and being a bit more fair-minded, I can appreciate that you and the minister and the chief of the defence staff would rely on JAG for legal advice and the legal system within the department, so I'm putting a lot of the details for responsibility on the part of JAG. If I put myself in the shoes of the minister, that's who you rely on to give you the expert advice, that's who you rely on to make sure that the fundamental rights of Canada are being upheld.
To me, Commodore, you're a bit on the spot here. I don't want to leave the deputy's responsibility, but I do want to talk about the audit.
The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Canadian Armed Forces administered the military justice system efficiently. Under “Conclusion”, it says, “We concluded that the Canadian Armed Forces did not administer the military justice system efficiently.” Deputy, overall you own this.
However, when I go to page 14, headed up “Overseeing the administration of the military system”, and I quickly look at 3.62, “Context”, it tells me, and this is from the AG's report, “The Judge Advocate General is responsible for ensuring that the military justice system operates efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with the rule of law.”
The subheading, under “Overseeing the administration of the military justice system”, says, “The Office of the Judge Advocate General did not provide effective oversight of the military justice system”. The first point on that page, "Overall message", says, “Overall, we found that the Office of the Judge Advocate General did not provide effective oversight of the military justice system.”
This process here is about accountability.
Commodore, explain yourself and this department's complete failure to ensure that there was a proper justice system in our military system. Please explain how we got in this mess.