Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A retired Supreme Court judge is calling for urgent reforms to Canada's military justice system to prevent victims of misconduct, sexual and otherwise, from continuing to suffer.
Morris Fish says the current system is rife with areas where the potential for interference in police investigations and courts martial from the chain of command exists, which is why action is needed now.
"Reform of the military justice system along the lines developed by my recommendations is no longer an option: It's essential to protect present and future generations of military members," Fish said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
"So that's why I say there is an urgent need for reform of the military justice system in order to prevent present and future victims of sexual misconduct and other misconduct from continuing to suffer needlessly and unduly."
Fish's comments follow the release of an explosive 400-page report earlier this month on the system that the Canadian Armed Forces uses to investigate and try everything from minor disciplinary infractions to heinous criminal acts.
Fish spent six months starting last November quietly studying the system, which functions separately from its civilian counterpart and is subject to mandatory reviews every decade or so, with his final report tabled in Parliament on June 1.
Much of Fish's review coincided with the military's latest reckoning with sexual misconduct as several senior commanders have been accused of improper, and in some cases criminal, behaviour.
Underlying much of the current crisis are questions of fairness and accountability in how the military handles such allegations, with concerns that those higher up in the ranks are treated less severely than those near the bottom.
Those concerns were only underscored following revelations the military's second in command, Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, recently golfed with former defence chief Jonathan Vance.
Rouleau is not only responsible for administration of the military police, who are currently investigating Vance on allegations of sexual misconduct, but has the power through the National Defence Act to issue orders in relation to police investigations.
While Rouleau and the military's top police officer insist that he has never issued such an order, the vice-chief of defence staff's power was one of the areas of potential interference identified by Fish in his report even before the golf game.
But it was far from the only one, with Fish finding numerous other areas where commanders have both direct and indirect influence over military police, prosecutors, defence lawyers and even judges themselves.
The retired justice heard directly from military police officers and others of instances in which they had either seen interference or otherwise felt like they were not truly independent of the chain of command.
Fish in his report called for all military police, not only members of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, to be able to lay charges. As it stands now, non-CFNIS officers can only recommend charges to the chain of command.
"I heard about charging recommendations of members of the uniformed military police being rejected -- even for serious offences -- on the basis of extraneous and irrelevant considerations," Morris wrote in his report.
Those included "the performance of the accused in the unit, a wish to give the accused `another chance' or to avoid compromising the accused's career." Some officers also worried laying charges could draw attention to their own failure to maintain discipline.
Fish also specifically flagged the vice-chief of defence staff's ability to issue orders in relation to military police investigations as a serious and clear concern, and called for it to be repealed.
More insidious, particularly in the given context of allegations involving the very top echelon of the Canadian Armed Forces, were the many ways that Fish found the independence of military judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers is threatened.
For example, the director of military prosecutions is appointed by the judge advocate general for renewable four-year terms. While the prosecutor is supposedly independent, "I was told by the DMP that the possibility of renewal makes them vulnerable to political pressures."
Similar concerns were raised about the defence lawyers assigned to protect troops facing disciplinary or criminal charges. Fish said he heard stories of some being reluctant to cross-examine high-ranking witnesses, especially at promotion time.
Fish was quick to say in his report and by telephone that he has full confidence in the current judge advocate general, Rear-Admiral Genevieve Bernatchez, as well as the military's current top prosecutor, defence lawyer and judges.
But he says the system's proper functioning should not be dependent on personalities or individuals.
The retired judge found numerous other problems with the military justice system outside potential interference, including the time it takes to resolve cases, light sentences on convictions and the fact it is legally impossible to court martial a chief of the defence staff.
That could be relevant if military police decide to charge Vance or his successor as defence chief, Admiral Art McDonald. Vance has denied wrongdoing and McDonald has not commented.
Fish also dedicated an entire chapter in his report to the system's handling of sexual misconduct cases, and many of his recommendations on that front have been accepted outright by the military and Liberal government.
But much of Fish's report -- and many of his recommendations -- focused on boosting independence in the system. Those include "civilianizing" military judges, and having senior police and legal officers appointed by cabinet rather than the chain of command.
Yet while the government says it accepts all of Fish's recommendations "in principle," it has not given a timeline for implementation.
Fish said he was optimistic they would be implemented, based on the public commitments delivered by senior military leaders and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan earlier this month, which he believes were approved by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office.
"I cannot imagine this commitment could have been made without it having passed through the PMO, the highest authorities of government," he said.
"So I read into this an acceptance not only by the CAF and the (Defence) Department, at least an implicit acceptance by the PMO."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2021.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.