Mr. Speaker, I will correct the member. The Leader of the Opposition was not the Minister of National Defence at the time of the previous incident. He was the Minister of Veterans Affairs and was not the one accountable or directly responsible. In fact, he took the appropriate action by reporting an allegation or rumour he heard to the appropriate authorities, which was then investigated by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service. Obviously, based on the information it made available, it maybe did not highlight the shortfalls with the previous chief of the defence staff.
As for answering the member's hypothetical, if I had been the Minister of National Defence when the former ombudsman brought that allegation forward, I would not have hesitated to look at it and make a determination to get an investigation started, then I would have stayed out of it. Once I had initiated that and ensured it was done, I would need to turn it over to the proper authorities. We cannot turn our backs. As the Minister of National Defence, the CDS reports to him.