Mr. Speaker, Justices Arbour and Fish conducted extensive outreach and consultations with victims, survivors, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, their families, military justice experts and constitutional experts to get this right. In fact, the chief of the defence staff, General Jennie Carignan, in her previous role as chief of personnel and professional conduct, also undertook extensive consultations with over 14,000 individuals. What Justice Arbour, Justice Fish and the chief of the defence staff heard, and revealed in their reports, is that there is a lack of trust in the military justice system, in large part due to instances of real and perceived interference from the chain of command into sexual misconduct matters.
In the House of Commons on May 4th, 2026. See this statement in context.