Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows I want to ask a question about wild salmon, but this is a very important issue.
On March 3, the defence committee summoned Gary Walbourne, the former ombudsman, to testify. He testified to the details of the March 1, 2018, meeting between him and the minister. He reported that the minister refused to look at the evidence against General Vance. He also testified that there was a campaign to oust him as ombudsman after his 2017 governance report was issued and that the minister and department created a toxic workplace for him and his staff after that.
I have met Mr. Walbourne several times. He is an upstanding citizen as far as I ever could see. Do the Conservatives agree that the office of National Defence and Canadian Forces ombudsman should be made a fully independent office of Parliament so we do not have this evidence?
We know that on March 12, the Minister of National Defence returned to testify before committee and he confirmed that he forwarded the allegations to the PCO. Even later, the evening after he met with Mr. Walbourne, the Minister of National Defence issued a statement, saying he disagreed with the testimony of the former ombudsman.