Status of Women committee  Among those individuals, we had a member of the SMRC, a trauma care nurse from National Defence, a member of the RCMP and a victim services advocate from Ottawa, I believe. There was also a Crown prosecutor with experience in sexual assault. We had a phase of the review where we had a case involving children.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for your question. Anyone can submit a complaint to the military police. As I previously explained, we are independent from the chain of command. We would have evaluated the complaint and decided to launch an investigation.

Status of Women committee  I would like to clarify something about the coding I talked about earlier. It applies to offences, not necessarily to the result of judicial processes. As a police service, we investigate, we evaluate the facts and the evidence, and we lay charges. The outcomes of judicial processes are not my purview.

Status of Women committee  A victim can make a complaint to any police service: civilian police or military police. At that point, if it's made to the civilian police, then they would go through the same process that we do to establish jurisdiction and who would investigate. However, a victim can make a complaint to any police service that they wish.

Status of Women committee  It's difficult for me because every case is different and there would have to be an investigative assessment and discussion within the investigative team as jurisdiction is assessed.

Status of Women committee  As investigations are ongoing, I would refrain from commenting on that matter.

Status of Women committee  When CFNIS members come into the unit, they go through a one-year internship program. They take some foundational training that every CFNIS member takes. They do an MP investigator course that lasts about six weeks at the academy. Then there are various sexual investigation courses and interviewing techniques.

Status of Women committee  I don't have the specific feedback, but from my perspective it was highly valuable. The NIS welcomed the comments. The victim advocates also help us understand things from a victim's perspective. They certainly provide an understanding of how a victim feels and some of the needs of a victim.

Status of Women committee  As I explained earlier, we have an MP liaison officer embedded with SMRC, so there is a link there. We've certainly exchanged best practices with them and we are in regular contact with SMRC.

Status of Women committee  For me, I guess a recommendation for the committee would be to better explain the role of the military police to the defence community and to communicate more about what we do and our independence in order to break down barriers to reporting.

Status of Women committee  I've had an opportunity to discuss this with Justice Fish a few weeks ago, who is conducting an independent review of the National Defence Act, and I've shared with him some perspectives to reinforce the MP independence in the legislative framework. I'm looking forward to his recommendations in his important work in reviewing the National Defence Act.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. I can't speak to the whole system in place, but I can speak to what I know, which is the military police group. You mentioned independence. I am functionally independent from the chain of command. When we receive information and we investigate, we investigate independently from the chain of command.

Status of Women committee  No, what I'm saying is that Justice Fish was doing a review of the National Defence Act and aspects of military policing and the legislative framework pertaining to the Canadian Forces provost marshal, and I've shared some perspectives with him on how the legislative framework reinforces MP independence.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. First of all, we would receive the allegation to the complaint. You say it pertains to the chief of the defence staff?

Status of Women committee  That allegation would be referred to.... If it is referred to me or the CFNIS, then an assessment of the allegation would be made, and then, if the allegation or the information meets the threshold, an investigation would be launched.