National Defence Minister Anita Anand told a Senate committee on Monday that a highly anticipated report on sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is expected to be released on May 20.
Anand said she’s been meeting regularly with former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour, who is leading the review.
“I know that her process has been very thorough and that she herself has undertaken a number of consultations and meetings, so I will accord her recommendations the highest respect. I look forward to receiving them. I look forward to acting on them,” she said at the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.
Last April, the government tasked Arbour with shedding light on the prevalence of harassment and sexual misconduct in the ranks of the Forces and providing recommendations about how best to set up an independent, external reporting system for defence team members.
The review was launched amid a year of multiple misconduct investigations among the CAF’s highest-ranking members, deepening the call for a complete internal culture shift.
The revolving door of senior officers stepping down or stepping aside stirred up criticism not only of the military leadership, but also of the federal government for not taking action to protect victims.
Anand has already accepted one of Arbour’s suggestions to transfer cases involving sexual assault, and other criminal offences of a sexual nature under the Criminal Code, to civilian authorities.
Former Supreme Court judge Morris Fish also called for this transfer of authority in a separate report released last summer.
The objective of Arbour’s assigned review isn’t unlike the one initiated in 2015 and undertaken by another former Supreme Court justice, Marie Deschamps.
One of the key takeaways of Deschamps’ 100-page report was the need for an independent reporting and accountability body, “with the responsibility for receiving reports of inappropriate sexual conduct, as well as prevention, coordination and monitoring of training, victim support, monitoring of accountability, and research, and to act as a central authority for the collection of data.”
Asked at the time why, six years later, the government proposed to conduct yet another review if one of the key solutions is already known, then Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Deschamps’ work was a “good start” but more needs to be done.
Anand said on Monday that the government is not waiting for Arbour’s report to take action on this issue.
“Time is of the essence and that is why we’ve been implementing the number of reforms that I have indicated and we will continue to be very, very forthcoming in terms of our efforts in this area,” she said.
The defence minister pointed to new government funding, an expanded Sexual Misconduct Response Centre, enhanced expert training, and the implementation of the long-awaited victims' bill of rights, as examples of reforms.
