Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, generally, as part of a promotion board, it is the member's file that includes personnel reports and course reports, and the conduct sheet is part of that. Going forward, we are putting much more science into the selection of our senior leaders in terms of psychometric testing, emotional intelligence and modified 360-degree assessments to give subordinates a say in identifying potentially toxic behaviours in their leaders.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I believe it's incumbent. This is going to be a judgment issue depending on the nature of the rumour, but it's incumbent on us, if there is smoke, to do a check to make sure there is no fire behind it. Again, though, every case is going to be different.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I can't speak to the veracity of those reports; however, given the independence of the Canadian Forces national investigation service and the independence of their investigators, if they believe that their investigation is being unduly interfered with, they have the absolute right to go to the Military Police Complaints Commission to lodge a complaint to that independent body.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, that's another excellent question. In my view, one of the fundamental roles of a leader at any level is to understand the personal circumstances of each and every one of their subordinates, treat them as individuals, cater to them, support them and give them the development they need to thrive in the organization.

Status of Women committee  That is a very important question because whoever we select for leader positions, the first considerations are setting both the individual and the institution up for success. It's having the skills, the attributes and the experience to be able to be successful in that position.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, that depends on the nature of the infraction. If it was criminal or a code of service discipline, it would be on the conduct sheet. If it was administrative in nature or remedial measures, generally they stay on the file. That policy changed at a certain point. I can't remember the exact year, but generally they would remain on the personnel file, especially in terms of a recorded warning or a counselling and probation, two of our more significant remedial measures.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I wish I could. I am in the process of learning about this, and I need to learn more, because from what I'm hearing it offers great potential for victims to achieve that closure. Over the coming weeks, I'll have some experts come in and talk about the restorative engagement piece.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I think we're talking about Bill C-65 and Bill C-77. I can tell you right now that we're putting much effort into their implementation within the Canadian Armed Forces and DND in terms of victims' rights, workplace harassment and violence.... That all plays a part in the wider efforts to change our culture.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, our plans are very immature at this point. We need to do a stock-taking as to where we are in terms of the implementation of the 10 recommendations that came out of the Deschamps report and from other reports as well, including the OAG report and the reports out of your own committee.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, are we talking specifically about the Deschamps report? Do you recall which two recommendations?

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, we absolutely have to create an armed forces where all feel not only physically safe, but psychologically safe as well, where all members feel that they truly belong, where they can speak up when they see something that doesn't look right, and where they can feel free to identify that as an issue.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, it is absolutely essential that we address this. In fact, I view it as existential for the Canadian Armed Forces. It's a paradox that as our nation's population grows, our traditional recruiting pool is shrinking. If we cannot attract the talent that is resident in all Canadians into our ranks, this is bigger than a military problem.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, yes. Along with that power comes responsibility as well. One of the things we have to get much better at understanding is human power dynamics, especially in a fairly rigid military hierarchy. Understanding what constitutes the use of that power is something that we need to bake into all of our leadership training, so our leaders at all levels have a firm understanding of that.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, over the course of the last several weeks, a number of survivors have reached out to me. I've established contact to listen to their stories. One thing that is apparent to me is that we need to bring in some mechanism whereby survivors can achieve closure, perhaps where they don't necessarily want to follow a legal process.

Status of Women committee  Madam Chair, I cannot speak definitively on what consultation occurred before I got into this chair. Definitely, going forward, they need to be part of the conversation and part of the solution.