Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. It gives me an opportunity to say that the functions he proposes in terms of an inspector general are covered in other positions, not just in terms of the legislation but also in other provisions that are being made by the government.
In the legislation, as I have mentioned already, there is the grievance board and the police complaints commission. There is an ombudsman who indeed will be independent. It will not be someone who reports to the chain of command or who is part of the chain of command. The person will be independent and will be from outside the Canadian forces. When a report is issued, the report can be examined by parliament, can be examined by the committee which is a part of the parliamentary process and does such things. It will be fully available and open to scrutiny and examination.
That I call accountability and transparency. It addresses the issue of the examination of what is going on in the military.
I am not afraid to have people looking over the shoulders of the military. I said that we did not need an additional person to do that when we already have the functions covered. They are covered by the ombudsman, by the grievance board and by the police complaints commission. There is also a chief of review services who does a lot of work in examining what the chain of command has authorized, what it is carrying out and whether it is being carried out within the mandate and is being done in a proper fashion.
A very substantial overview will happen not only as a result of these amendments but of decisions of the government to implement oversight mechanisms to make the Canadian forces all the more accountable to parliament.