OTTAWA | The military must let civilian justice investigate charges of a sexual nature and change from “bottom to bottom” to regain the public’s trust, says former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour.
In a report released Monday, Justice Arbor describes the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as a backward, inward-looking institution that urgently needs to look outward to bring itself up to date. First and foremost is the justice system.
The magistrate recommends that Criminal Code charges of a sexual nature against the military fall under “the exclusive jurisdiction of civil authorities”. She also asks “that cases of sexual harassment be dealt with by the Canadian Human Rights Commission”.
Defense Minister Anita Anand accepted the report in its entirety and indicated that the transfer of sexual misconduct cases to civilian justice was already underway. Exchanges have even taken place between her office and Quebec police services to ensure the transition of cases that have arisen in the province, she said.
- Listen to Carl Marchand’s column at the microphone of Geneviève Pettersen on QUB radio:
Victims better protected
For Colonel Michel Drapeau, a retired soldier, now a lawyer, this is excellent news for victims who can simply call 911 and be protected by the Victims Bill of Rights, like all other Canadian citizens.
“Victims will have the assurance that the police are independent of the military chain of command, it will bring a dose of confidence,” he rejoices indicating that they will have less to fear reprisals for having filed a complaint.
Mr. Drapeau, however, is skeptical of a large number of the 49 recommendations of the Arbor report, which in his view are not strong enough.
The army, he warns, is “an ace in the art of circumventing recommendations and dragging its feet”. He therefore fears that she will once again find a way to shelve the recommendations as she did for those of the Deschamps report in 2015.
national security
But for Chief of Staff Wayne Eyre, the forces cannot afford to ignore the Arbor report because understaffing, including due to sexual misconduct, threatens national security.
“Our country faces increasing threats in all areas. We owe it to our country to be the best institution possible because our country is going to need us more and more,” he said.
Seventeen of the 49 recommendations have already been implemented or will be implemented immediately, Minister Anand said. The others are being analyzed.