Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll make a general comment about trust, then if we want to go deeper, we can. How do I win back the trust of the survivors, the victims, our teammates who are questioning whether the leadership is serious about leading the Canadian Forces? I've learned in my 30 years that it's really hard to get people to trust me, but I've also learned that it takes one second to lose the trust of our teammates.

Status of Women committee  First of all, reprisals go against everything we are in the Canadian Forces. No defence team member should ever feel unsafe or alone in an organization that talks about teamwork the way we do. I saw the stories last night and I listened and I'm sorry that my teammate who was listed in one of the media articles has felt afraid to be named.

Status of Women committee  The words I used were that the Canadian Forces are better now than when I joined in 1990. When I joined in 1990, there was no such thing as diversity. There was no such thing as policies for people. There were no policies for family. There was a running joke: “If we wanted you to have a family, we would have issued you one.”

Status of Women committee  That's a great question, and it's a hard question. That's why we're having these conversations right now. We have to figure out what we need to do to make the profession better than it is and make the institution that I think Canadians want. I'll make a comment about what culture is and how I see it coming together in terms of how you framed the question.

Status of Women committee  Anybody, regardless of rank, absolutely has to be held accountable. There is a process in place that energizes and applies itself when these allegations take place, and that process is in play at this time.

Status of Women committee  That's hard to say in a 30-second sound bite, but what I can say from a military personnel perspective is that I can at least initiate the changes to things and processes that are under my authority. For me it starts with people. It starts with making sure that people start by respecting themselves.

Status of Women committee  My previous job was the deputy commander of military personnel command. Within the military structure, when a leader is unable to perform his duties or is absent, the deputy commander steps up. In the case of my supervisor, I'm unable to comment on the current status of Admiral Edmundson, as I am not privy to those details.

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for inviting me today to participate in this committee discussion in my capacity as acting commander of military personnel command for the Canadian Armed Forces, a position I have held for just about a month. The military personnel command is responsible for the management of many of the personnel policies that support all members of the CAF, both full-time and part-time, as well as their families.