In our case, it is a society within a society. We have to tell it like it is. The military organization has its own system of policing, health, justice, and so on. It's completely hidden from scrutiny and accountability. Only two small, powerless committees play a bit of a watchdog role. They are the Military Grievances External Review Committee and the Military Police Complaints Commission.
Otherwise, the Department of National Defence is basically untouchable. Ultimately, it's not accountable to anyone in Parliament. As I said before, the whole situation around sexual misconduct has been going on for 30 years. In 1998, Parliament decided to transfer jurisdiction from the civilian courts to military, and things have gone from bad to worse since then.
A number of countries, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and several others, have established an “inspector general” position, which is a civilian who reports to Parliament and who has investigative powers, oversight and the power to hold the military to account. This person has the necessary staff to conduct investigations, and make judgments and recommendations. The inspector general's primary role is to act as an agent of Parliament, to provide briefings, advice and accountability to parliamentarians who are on these committees.
Right now, it's another way to assure victims that their complaints will be received, investigated, and not interfered with. Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Boland gave an example. This is one way of doing things. It's about increasing accountability and responsibility and, in those circumstances, giving victims confidence. The majority of victims don't report the crime, don't trust the military justice system and fear reprisals.
That's something that we can and should do. It was recommended by Justice Létourneau in 1997, when he wrote his report as part of the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia.