Public Accounts committee  First of all, I want to state that the comments made by the audit team and in the Auditor General’s report point to shortcomings in documenting those decisions. I want to assure the committee that the Director of Military Prosecutions’ team made those decisions and justified them regularly.

Public Accounts committee  The DMP looked at updating all the policies related to the change to instruments for appointment of prosecutors, clarifying the limits of the powers of a prosecutor on a file and indicating at what level charges could be disposed. Also, he reviewed all the policies that specified the timeliness of disclosure to the accused, which was also raised very validly by the Auditor General's reports.

National Defence committee  I always like to say that there are never enough lawyers, because, of course, legal issues are becoming more and more prevalent in all departments and Canadian society at large. Right now I'm satisfied with the resourcing I have. With the new tracking systems I will put in place in the next several months, I'll be able to identify whether there are gaps and then make evidence-based analysis and come back to the department, to the deputy, to the chief of the defence staff, if I do need more resources, but at this time I evaluate that I have enough resources to answer the bill.

National Defence committee  There is great news in the fact that on May 10, Bill C-77 was tabled in Parliament, and we'll have to let it follow its parliamentary process in order for it to be approved and come into force. I'm also pleased to say that, while this is occurring, we are not immobile, and we're not looking at this as unfolding work.

National Defence committee  I'm pleased to confirm that the regulations that were related to the coming into force of Bill C-15 have now been completed and approved. We will see these sections and regulations coming into force on September 1, 2018.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your comment about the confidence in the military justice system and its legitimacy. You know how important it is to me and how hard I've been working over the past several months to ensure that more information was given to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian public about that system.

National Defence committee  The Supreme Court of Canada decision in Jordan obviously applies to the military justice system as well. We're bound by this 18-month delay. We've worked very closely with the prosecution services, defence counsel services, and the office of the chief military judge to ensure that delays will be cut as much as possible.

National Defence committee  My answer would have been that it is very much a political decision as to whether a bill would be presented by this government in that context. I'd be a little ill placed to answer.

National Defence committee  I'd like to say, though, that even if we don't have a bill moving forward in the House at this point, there's a lot we're doing right now to ensure there are victims' rights. Not all of it requires legislation. As I said earlier, our director of military prosecution is doing a great deal to ensure that everything that can be done without legislation is implemented.

National Defence committee  Let's start with the investigation. lt will depend largely on a variety of factors, including who's the complainant, who's the victim, and who is the alleged offender. There will be discussions between the national investigation service of the military police and the civilian police of jurisdiction if there is doubt as to whether the civilian police would be better suited to investigate, given all of these factors.

National Defence committee  Thank you. Is this question directed at me?

National Defence committee  Yes, and thank you for allowing me to clarify what I would like to do. The default position will be to make public as much of it as possible, and that would be done through the Office of the Judge Advocate General's website.

National Defence committee  Over the last several months, the director of military prosecutions has had much more engagement with Canadian media to do just that, to explain to the Canadian public the process that was followed and the results. We saw a little of that last Monday. This is as a result of an engagement with Canadian media to ensure education was being provided.

National Defence committee  I fully agree. There needs to be transparency. There not only needs to be an appearance of transparency, but real transparency of the system, to lay it out there for people to see. The centre of gravity for me right now is legitimacy. I want to ensure that the military justice system remains a legitimate one, because it's part of the wider Canadian legal mosaic.

National Defence committee  At a very high level, both systems have to respond to the requirements of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Both systems are anchored in the Canadian legal mosaic, so they're both part of that big organism. They're part of that wider fabric. Courts martial have the same powers and the same rights, basically, as superior courts of criminal jurisdiction.