National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, a huge thanks to you and the entire committee for extending the invitation to speak to you today on this very important matter, which is important not only for military justice but for the entire Canadian Forces as a whole, and that is Bill C-15. A

National Defence committee  That's a very, very probing question, Mr. Harris. Obviously I'm not prepared to comment on the specifics of Mr. Schmidt's own circumstances or the case before the Federal Court. I can't do that. I can only refer you to our roles and the roles we had with our government colleagues

National Defence committee  Again, I can't speak for the government. You heard the minister last week addressing those issues, and on clause 75 he's obviously said publicly many times that the government has gone back and reviewed that. I think that's just an indicator, frankly, of the process. In vibrant

National Defence committee  These are policy choices made by the government.

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 diffe

National Defence committee  In all seriousness, it's a long historical role. In fact, last year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the appointment of the very first judge advocate general in 1911, Colonel Henry Smith. We've had a long tradition of judge advocate generals in Canada, I think largely unkno

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 firs

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 righ

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 supp

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 tria

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 s

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—