Yes, absolutely.
I have a research partnership with It's Just 700 that is looking specifically at identifying some of the barriers to veterans benefits and services. Together, we did a study where we looked at 10 years of Veterans Review and Appeal Board decisions in cases related to military sexual assault. We have seen some very good changes at the Veterans Review and Appeal Board over the last two years. Those came about really in response to the advocacy of MST survivors and, in particular, the work of It's Just 700 and Marie-Claude Gagnon, and also very much in response to the class action lawsuit and the final settlement agreement.
To me, that shows how important that external pressure has been and how important the advocacy voice of survivors has been. We want to really ensure that, however we move forward in finding solutions, the voices are also included of MST survivors, male and female, but also of other military members and veterans who have suffered discrimination and have been long defined as “the other” in the military institutions. I think it's really imperative as we move forward.
I hope we move forward with a strong independent external oversight mechanism. I recognize that it will take some time to develop and to figure out the details, but I hope that even in the initial phase of discussing what the options are and how we move forward on what has been suggested by a lot of subject matter experts, we ensure that we have consultations with MST survivors, as well as women veterans, advocacy groups and LGBTQ veterans groups such as the Rainbow Veterans of Canada, but also the indigenous and racialized veterans advocacy groups.