National Defence committee  Thank you, Minister and Mr. Chair. You asked a specific question about rules of engagement and whether they allow for the exchange of fire on the front line. You understand that this train, advise, and assist mission is largely defensive in posture given that the Kurdish line, i

National Defence committee  The Cyclones are just beginning the workup to be able to land on and operate from ships, so they're at what we would call IOC, interim operational capability. They won't be fully operational for another year and a half or two years.

National Defence committee  Minister, thank you. The intent in transition through the JPSUs in partnership with VAC will be to ensure that each individual who is injured and needs to transition somehow.... It's really one of two missions. Get well and return to duty or transition successfully post-retireme

National Defence committee  Thanks, Minister. I certainly agree with the minister. I think our edge has been well-educated and well-trained troops, well equipped and well led. I think that gives us an edge internationally and places us in the first tier of nations among our closest allies. I'm not quite

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm joined here today by Lieutenant-General Christine Whitecross, who is the chief of military personnel command for the Canadian Armed Forces. Mr. Greg Smolynec is one of our defence scientists. He is intimately involved in all things to do with gender

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, sir. I'll start, and then General Whitecross can get into some of the details. We are taking an approach that looks at best practices globally among our allies and within those organizations in Canada that would have some experience in this. Key to this is a victim-c

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. It covers a massive body of knowledge and work, but I'll try and boil it down for you. As we contemplate operations, as we contemplate engaging in an operational area of any type, there are a number of military objectives at stake. Gender-based anal

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely. We can provide extensive training and support to the contingents of the troop-contributing nations in United Nations missions. We can suggest new ideas on ways to conduct activities in peacekeeping missions in order to prevent and eliminate the times when things

Foreign Affairs committee  I can answer that for you. I believe that good leadership is important in all organizations. It is also essential that the employees are fully satisfied with their working conditions. I know it may sound somewhat odd that the military would think about workplace safety and sat

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. Thank you for your service. Thanks for training that platoon. It's good. I'll check and see how you did. I'll let you know. Our objective, as the senior leadership of the armed forces, is to increase by 1% per year over the next 10 years from our cur

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay, because I'm all about reducing harassment in the armed forces to zero.

Foreign Affairs committee  The accountability rests with the commander, ultimately with me, regardless of what sector or domain of the operation we undertake. One of the strongest parts of our culture is the concept of accountability by commanders for every decision taken and for the results of the operati

Foreign Affairs committee  Other military jurisdictions?

Foreign Affairs committee  I think I'll ask General Whitecross to pitch in here, because she's been around the world and talked to other jurisdictions in other countries. It seems to me that as we're dealing with the specifics of gender-based analysis plus, we have to see it from the perspective of the in

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me to appear before you once again. As chief of the defence staff, I'm responsible for providing military advice to the Government of Canada, but I also have the privilege to engage parliamentary committees, such a