Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and for allowing me the opportunity to elaborate on this very important issue, Canadian forces members' responsibilities with regard to the commission of inquiry and with regard to the ongoing responsibilities of Canadian forces members under their code of discipline.
As the minister stated, the commission of inquiry was established precisely to get to the bottom of all incidents that occurred during the Canadian forces tour in Somalia. I am very confident it will do that.
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian forces headquarters have and will continue to encourage people with any information which may be of interest to the commission to bring it forward to the commission.
It has been stated on several occasions in the House that members of the Canadian forces have the right, the duty and the obligation to bring forward any evidence they may have related to the Somalia incidents.
This does not, however, relieve members of the Canadian forces of their obligation to respect their code of discipline. If they choose to disregard their code of discipline they expose themselves to administrative or disciplinary measures.
While soldiers have a duty to come forward with any evidence relating to Somalia, they also have a duty to serve at their post. The two are not contradictory. All a soldier has to do is inform his or her commanding officer that he or she wishes to give evidence and obtain permission to go. It is a simple process.
What a solider cannot do is abandon his or her post on a whim without informing his or her superiors. That is very straightforward. For example, soldiers on peacekeeping duties in Haiti or in Bosnia implementing the peace accord cannot simply walk away from their posts.
I stress that discipline is a very important component of a military system. Discipline must be maintained without exception, for only with properly disciplined troops can we be assured of obedience in times of crisis.
Members of the Canadian forces must be held accountable to respect the code of discipline at all times.