National Defence committee  Well, I think that's been very apparent with the latest move we've made at the top of the Canadian Armed Forces, so there were actions available. I'm not going to sit here and try to skirt around that question. Yes, I believe he had, like I said, other levers at his disposal.

National Defence committee  It would have proven beyond a doubt that the allegation had merit, and it may have given him an option to look into it in a different way. I have no idea.

National Defence committee  That was March 2017, I think. Just a quick second here. Yes, it was March 2017.

National Defence committee  Absolutely not.

National Defence committee  I'm of somewhat the same mindset that it seems mighty peculiar. As to the relationship, I'm a very straightforward guy. We have a job to do; let's get it done. I shoot from the hip. I speak frankly, openly and honestly. I think reluctantly they accepted my work, but things got difficult in terms of trying to find out what my financial delegation was one day versus the next and whether I could staff or couldn't staff.

National Defence committee  I don't think anything I've said here today is shocking. We have different renditions of our memories, but I don't think that anything I've said here is shocking. This is straight up. It is what it is.

National Defence committee  There are none that I am aware of.

National Defence committee  I think it was the next day.

National Defence committee  That's correct.

National Defence committee  That's correct.

National Defence committee  That would be a lot of supposition on my part. If the complainant had come to me with a formal allegation and was willing to give me the authority to investigate, it wouldn't have been the minister or PCO who stopped me. I have been known to take these investigations through to their completion.

National Defence committee  I think the minister has certain latitudes afforded to him under the National Defence Act. He could have done his own motion investigation. There are certain different things he could have done. I wasn't looking for any of that. The only ask I had of the minister was to please come back to me with some advice on how we could potentially proceed with the allegation.

National Defence committee  I can't put myself in the minister's shoes. I don't know what he has said or what he hasn't said. I know what happened in the meeting on March 1, 2018. I have stated that clearly here in front of committee.

National Defence committee  I have been a few years out of the chair, so I will be a little rusty in my stats and categories. The biggest complaint we would get would be inappropriate behaviour—misogynistic comments, inappropriate jokes and that type of thing. We would handle that type of inappropriate behaviour at the ground level.

National Defence committee  I really can't speak to the operational footprint of the ombudsman's office now. When I was in the chair, I twice annually reported those exact statistics to the department. They were posted on our website. I don't know if the practice continues to this day or not.