Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank the minister for being here.
Minister, I'm going to get to my questions immediately. This past year, Canadians have been shocked and appalled at revelations of sexual misconduct in the highest ranks of our Canadian Armed Forces. However, it is well known that this wasn't the first time.
In 2015, former Supreme Court justice the Honourable Marie Deschamps released a scathing report on issues within the Canadian Armed Forces. One of her recommendations was to clarify the definition of “sexual misconduct” in DAOD 5019-5 as it was “confusing and misleading because the DAOD’s use of the term is inconsistent with its plain language meaning.” However, this wasn't changed until November 2020, five years after the report was released.
In your mandate letter from the Prime Minister, you've been charged with ensuring GBA+ is conducted within the government, which would include the military. Can you please explain why you did not see to it, when this report came out, that DAOD 5019-5 was amended in 2015?