National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. Obviously, each case will depend on the facts, which can come forward in different ways. It can be from individual members who believe they've been the subject of sexual misconduct, which ranges from a low-end activity of harassment to high-end activity of sex assault, and at that point—

National Defence committee  I understand, but the issue is very complex. This is not a simple matter.

National Defence committee  First of all, any time there is an accusation of an offence, a service offence or any other type of offence, including sexual misconduct, it's investigated either by the chain of command itself, or in sensitive cases and important cases by the national investigation service. Once the investigation is complete, they then look at the evidence and determine if charges are to be laid.

National Defence committee  Okay.

National Defence committee  Yes, thank you, Chief, and thank you, Chair. It's an honour to be here to address these issues. To focus on the question of punishment, again, it's a real challenge, particularly as the superintendent of the military justice system, where my role is to ensure that this justice system—if that's the focus of the punishment aspect of your question—is balanced both in terms of the victims of offences and those accused of offences.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. This is very important. I can't get into the specifics. I've read the article, of course—

National Defence committee  Oui. Well, there are different statistics that we're dealing with. As the provost marshal indicated, we're dealing with actual complaints of sexual misconduct or sexual assault that are tracked. Those are largely in the sphere of the police, and the provost marshal can address those.

National Defence committee  It's another very important topic and question, so I thank the committee for that question. Again, fundamentally the summary trial system from my perspective is very sound and constitutionally compliant. It does its job both on the legal side, but also, more importantly, in support of the chain of command.

National Defence committee  It can be viewed as a minor point, but I think process-wise and, again, to our young men and women in uniform, it's very important they understand that the first amendment that's being proposed is to have a charge laid within six months to be dealt with in terms of a summary trial process.

National Defence committee  Yes, that is a very important question. I heard you refer to it before, Mr. McKay, as controversial. I'm not sure yet how controversial it is. There are a few folks who have—

National Defence committee  It certainly does in certain quarters. From a larger perspective, a superintendent of the military justice system perspective, I would fully support the underlying goal. I'm extremely sensitive to the concept of police and police independence, because if you don't get that right, a lot of the underpinning of the entire military justice system can fall very quickly.

National Defence committee  I don't know if I have the time for that one, Mr. Chair—

National Defence committee  —but I'll do my best.

National Defence committee  Great. Those are very important questions. I don't mean to make light of them, but they reflect a natural...some tensions around town between lawyers. It's not unusual; you see the same in private practice. I will address that in a second. I will address the second question first, if I may, Mr.

National Defence committee  That's a very good question. I appreciate that because certainly part of my mandate since I've been appointed as JAG is really to help folks, both inside the government and in the Canadian populace as a whole, understand the role of the Judge Advocate General. It's somewhat different from perhaps the TV show that people have seen, although we're looking for a new fighter plane to get witnesses....