QUESTION PERIOD — National Defence
Independent External Comprehensive Review
June 1, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Gold, in April of last year, the government announced that former Justice Louise Arbour would lead a review looking into sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.
This week, the final report of this review was released. A key recommendation from Justice Arbour’s report is that civilian authorities have exclusive jurisdiction over Criminal Code sexual offences against Canadian Armed Forces members. This recommendation was built on former Justice Fish’s and former Justice Deschamps’s reports’ findings and recommendations in 2021 and 2015, respectively, where they both recommended sexual offences be referred to civilian authorities.
Senator Gold, we know that the military justice system has been ineffective in dealing with matters related to sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. Senator Gold, I’m sure you will agree that all Canadians deserve equal access to justice, be they civilian or military.
Senator Gold, will the government commit to implementing these centrally important recommendations?
Thank you for your question, senator. I am advised that Minister Anand released and accepted Justice Arbour’s report in its entirety. She welcomed all of the recommendations and committed to implementing 17 of them immediately.
With regard to your specific question, as you would know, in the last year, the government has been laying the foundation for meaningful cultural change, including by implementing Madam Justice Arbour’s interim recommendation for transferring the investigation and prosecution of Criminal Code sexual offences from the military justice system to the civilian justice system. This work continues in earnest.
As you mentioned in your question, the fifth recommendation in Justice Arbour’s report is that sexual offences should be entirely removed from the jurisdiction of the military justice system, and they should be prosecuted in civilian criminal courts. This is a thoughtful and system-transforming recommendation. The minister is examining it in earnest. I am advised that the minister will be writing to her provincial and territorial justice partners in the coming days and she will be consulting with survivors and victims’ groups to determine the best path forward.
To smooth the case transfer process, Department of National Defence officials will collaborate even more closely with provincial and territorial authorities. The government is making plans to establish a formal intergovernmental table to build durable transfer processes that will serve Canadian Armed Forces members well in the long term.
Thank you, Senator Gold. I look forward to hearing further updates on that process, as you have described it.
Senator Gold, another important recommendation made by former Justice Arbour was that the civilian human rights organizations have adequate access and resources to assess and address these complaints from military personnel.
Senator Gold, will the government take action on this recommendation as well?
Thank you for your question, again. With respect to recommendations numbers 7 to 9 to which you made reference, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is a body outside the chain of command, and I have been advised that the government is examining this and is consulting across governments and with stakeholders to determine the path forward in the coming months.
I’m also advised that this is a rather complex recommendation. It requires some detailed analysis, and the government is committed to undertake the study required to develop an appropriate response.
