Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, when will the minister publicly acknowledge the former vice-chief of the defence staff's innocence and reinstate him as the vice-chief of the defence staff?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, in actual fact, QR&O; number 101.09(6) states that once the reason for the suspension of the military member is no longer valid, he or she will be reinstated to his or her former position. Therefore, I would like a comment from the minister on why the former vice-chief of the defence staff has not been reinstated to his position.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, if the chief of the defence staff reports to the Minister of National Defence, is the Minister of National Defence not accountable to every citizen and every member in uniform to ensure that he carries out his duties in accordance with the Queen's Regulations and Orders?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, this is probably the most fundamental point of this entire conversation. Our democracy is based on the fact that a standing army is accountable to the elected official so that Canadians can trust that our military is not running rogue and is totally accountable to what the will of citizens has decided.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, in what capacity was the deputy minister on that call, recognizing that the minister has already told us that the deputy minister does not have administrative control over military personnel?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the minister, I believe, is indicating that he has no responsibility for the other people and the authority with which other people are engaged in a call of this nature of a serious matter. I would like to ask him one more time. If a random person from the street or someone from some other country were involved on this call, would it not be his responsibility to ensure why they were?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, on January 9, 2017, the chief of the defence staff spoke with the Prime Minister on the matter of Vice-Admiral Norman's investigation. Was the minister also on this call?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, as the chief of the defence staff reports to the minister, did the chief of the defence staff brief the minister after the call with the Prime Minister?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, again, under what authority was the former deputy minister involved, considering that this was a disciplinary matter around the senior military official, for which the former deputy minister had no administrative control?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, did the minister or the CDS consult the judge advocate general prior to the suspension of Admiral Norman on January 13, 2017?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, was it the minister's decision to deny financial legal assistance to Admiral Norman on this matter?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, did the reason given, stating that Admiral Norman was guilty and that is why he was not entitled to financial assistance, not prejudice his presumption of innocence before his day in court?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, who does the deputy minister of the Department of National Defence report to?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, what authority does the deputy minister have over senior military personnel, specifically generals and admirals?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the question was about the deputy minister, not the chief of defence staff. It was about the authority of the deputy minister over military personnel.