National Defence  Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the member opposite when it comes to looking after the Canadian Armed Forces. When he was in government, the Conservatives cut from the Canadian Armed Forces. Our government, with our defence policy, added 70% of additional money to the defence budget, putting our people first.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to looking after the Canadian Armed Forces. Our government, when we put forward out defence policy, increased defence spending by 70% for the Canadian Armed Forces and put people first. We know that we have a lot more work to do to make sure that we are creating an inclusive environment in the Canadian Armed Forces, and we will get it done.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, as I said, I will take no lessons from the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to service to this country. We take all allegations very seriously, as I did, and immediately brought the information to the appropriate officials. No politician should ever start investigations.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, as the member very well knows, the acting chief of the defence staff has been reviewing this matter very closely as it falls within his responsibilities in the chain of command. The acting chief of the defence staff has informed me that the vice-chief of the defence staff is no longer in his role, effective immediately.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely committed to making sure that we have that culture change to let everybody who joins the Canadian Armed Forces have a place to work free from harassment. As I stated, the acting chief of the defence staff is currently reviewing this matter very closely as it falls within his responsibilities in the chain of command, and the acting chief of the defence staff has informed me that the vice-chief of the defence staff is no longer in his role, effective immediately.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our members and employees deserve an institution that they can have full confidence in. I have been working from day one to make sure that we create the institutional culture change that is absolutely necessary. That is why, in a statement from the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, he clarified, with regards to an ongoing military police investigation involving sexual misconduct, that he has complete independence from the chain of command in the conduct of policing duties.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our members and employees deserve an institution they can have full confidence in and we are working to deliver reforms that will bolster the confidence of our members in the military justice system. Our government is working toward a complete institutional culture change in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our members and employees deserve an institution in which they can have full confidence. We are working to deliver on the reforms that would bolster our members' confidence in the military justice system. The acting chief of the defence staff has been reviewing this matter very closely, and it falls within his responsibility in the chain of command.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely committed to making sure that we respect human rights and international law in all of our operations. Training is always done for our members, and any unit that our members train goes through some rigorous training. Every situation like this is rigorously looked at and the current allegations are being looked at by the military police.

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 96 of the Statutes of Canada, 1998, c.35, I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, the third independent review by the Hon. Morris J. Fish, C.C., Q.C., of the provisions and operations of Bill C-25, an act to amend the National Defence Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, we know that the measures we have implemented have not gone far enough and that we have much more work to do. More needs to be done to fully enact the structural, legislative and cultural changes outlined in Justice Deschamps' recommendations. This is one of the reasons why the sexual misconduct response centre reports to the deputy minister and not to the military.

National Defence  Madam Speaker, our government takes allegations of sexual misconduct extremely seriously, and no one should feel unsafe at work. That is why we passed Bill C-77, a declaration of victims rights that puts victims at the core of the military justice system, which reviews unfounded cases.

National Defence  Madam Speaker, I will let the member opposite continue on with the partisan attack. We are going to stay focused on making sure that we have an inclusive environment inside the Canadian Armed Forces. That is why we have implemented the path to dignity and respect, a strategy for long-term culture change to eliminate sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces.

National Defence  Madam Speaker, as we have stated, any time information was brought forward on any type of allegations, we always immediately forwarded it to the appropriate agencies for the appropriate action, which is something the member opposite and the former government also did when allegations were brought forward.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our government takes allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously. No one should feel unsafe at work. That is why we created the sexual misconduct response centre, which provides confidential 24-7 support services to CAF members anywhere in the world. We also listened to survivors.