Senator Pate: In fact, you got ahead of me, and you know my supplementary question. Part of the reason Madam Justice Arbour recommended the transfer and why she wanted legislation is the fact that many civilian police forces have refused to act upon those cases that have been referred.

Can you share any further information about the type of legislation you’re proposing and how it will ensure that civilian forces have to take seriously the reports that are put in by the military?

Making sure that victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment have access to strong victim support services is also critical. Whether or not they choose to pursue an investigation, I believe it’s important to make sure that those services will be available to every member of the Armed Forces when they —

Hon. Clément Gignac: Welcome, minister, and thank you for your public service as an MP since 2015 and, especially, for your 39 years of service in the Toronto Police Service.

As has already been mentioned, in June, the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence tabled a report on Arctic security, which set out 23 recommendations. One of them stated, and I quote:

That the Government of Canada include, in its next defence policy, a section on underwater domain awareness and underwater threats.

That section should also include a plan so that the government can quickly replace Canada’s existing Victoria-class submarines with submarines that would work better in the Arctic.

Minister, have you read this report? More importantly, do you intend to follow up on this recommendation to ensure Arctic sovereignty?

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