Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor accuses Canada’s military leadership of dragging its feet when it comes to tackling sexual misconduct in the military.
Arbor was appearing before the Standing Committee on National Defense on Tuesday, about six months after she made dozens of recommendations to improve the military’s handling of inappropriate, even criminal, sexual misconduct.
Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Anita Anand had rightly informed Parliament of the progress made by the army in implementing Ms. Arbour’s recommendations.
The Minister maintained that all the recommendations had been accepted. But Ms Arbor said on Tuesday there were clear signs that military leaders were resisting the implementation of many of them.
The ex-judge had led a year-long review that coincided with explosive allegations of inappropriate behavior by numerous senior army officers.
She argued Tuesday that she has seen resistance to removing the military’s jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of cases of sexual assault and other related crimes.
Minister Anand announced earlier Tuesday that she had ordered the Canadian Armed Forces to end its jurisdiction over sex crimes, even though the military police said they had recently had difficulty transferring such cases to the civil authorities.
The army says military police had to investigate dozens of sex crime allegations over the past year after civilian authorities refused to accept 40 of 97 cases.
Minister Anand’s report to Parliament specifically provided an update on the implementation of the 48 recommendations made by Ms. Arbour.
“This is an ambitious roadmap for reform developed over months of work and consultation,” Minister Anand said in prepared written remarks. We will continue to pitch in and make substantial changes to the way things are done in the Department of National Defense and in the Canadian Armed Forces. »
Among the recommendations accepted by the government, Ms. Arbor suggested officially transferring to civil authorities the responsibility for investigating and prosecuting cases of a sexual nature — a change that Minister Anand had always rejected until now.
The only exception to this transfer is that when an offense occurs outside of Canada, the military police may initiate an investigation, but contact civilian authorities as soon as possible. These cases have yet to be prosecuted in civil courts.
“I have asked officials to present options on how such a jurisdictional shift can occur, in consultation with federal, provincial and territorial partners,” Ms. Anand said, according to prepared remarks.
She added that her directive included reviewing the ability of civilian police to investigate historical cases and incidents outside of Canada, including in conflict zones. She also warned that it could require legislative changes, which will take years.
Yet shortly before the minister announced her expectations for the army, senior officials revealed in a technical briefing that they had already struggled to implement a similar request over the course of of the past year.
While Ms Arbor’s scathing report was only released in May, the retired Supreme Court justice had made an interim recommendation in a preliminary report, in November 2021, calling on military police and prosecutors to begin immediately to transfer these files to the civil authorities.
Cost of transfer of responsibilities
During a technical briefing on Monday, the deputy commander of the military police, Colonel Vanessa Hanrahan, told reporters that the civilian police had since accepted 57 cases, but had refused 40. These cases ended up making the under investigation by the military police.
Col. Hanrahan clarified that there was no single reason why the civilian police refused the files transferred by the army. But this large number of rejected cases comes as Ottawa and some provinces are at an impasse over funding for these transfers of responsibilities. Ontario and British Columbia, in particular, have publicly asked Ottawa for more resources to facilitate the transfer.
Officials told reporters at Monday’s briefing that federal government and military officials had met several times with their provincial and territorial counterparts, but had not specifically addressed provincial concerns about funding.
Deputy Judge Advocate General Colonel Stephen Strickey said those discussions would continue over the next year, with military officials planning to provide Minister Anand with options for moving forward in the coming months.
The role of military colleges
Ms. Anand also indicates in her report that she has ordered the military to begin conducting a review of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, and the French-language military college in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.
Ms Arbor had written in her report that the review should focus on the need for such institutions of higher learning. She wondered, in fact, if candidates for the post of officer should not rather obtain an undergraduate degree in a civilian university, and then, perhaps, take military training in college.
“In my view, the hostility of the environment and the mistreatment of many cadets alone warrant a thorough examination of the future of military training through these military colleges,” wrote Ms. Arbor in his report. But she was not recommending the outright closure of these military colleges.
While some have suggested the review should also look at the shutdown, officials have indicated that would not be part of the review —a position Minister Anand appeared to echo on Tuesday.
“These colleges attract some of the best that Canadian society has to offer,” she said. But let’s be clear: the culture at our military colleges needs to change significantly —and we will make sure that happens. »
Women at the top
The minister also said she had ordered the military to set targets to gradually increase the number of women in leadership positions.
When she released her scathing report last May, Ms Arbor also criticized the Armed Forces and its leadership for failing to act on hundreds of previous recommendations from outside sources designed to address issues related to its culture. .
The military ombudsman, along with a committee of retired members of the Armed Forces, had also just chastised the organization for not following up on dozens of previous studies and reviews of racism in the ranks over the past few years. last two decades.
During Monday’s technical briefing, Brigadier-General Roger Scott insisted this time would be different, largely due to the appointment in October of an “external comptroller,” Jocelyne Therrien. , who previously worked in the Office of the Auditor General.
Minister Anand said she had met with Ms. Therrien “and will continue to provide open, transparent and accountable updates.”