Mr. Speaker, picking up on the comments of the parliamentary secretary, in 1992 Chief Justice Lamer said:
Recourse to the ordinary criminal courts would, as a general rule, be inadequate to serve the particular disciplinary needs of the military. There is thus a need for separate tribunals to enforce special disciplinary standards in the military.
Essentially he was talking about a separate system of military justice developed to deal expeditiously and fairly with service offences while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and meeting the expectations of all Canadians, not just those in the military.
Would the amendments that are being proposed here serve to enhance the independence and the effectiveness of military judges and their role in the military justice system?