Skip to main content

Changing Armed Forces policies is slow and labour-intensive, external monitor says

OTTAWA -

The military is finalizing a policy change to abolish its definition of sexual misconduct and to use the Criminal Code definition for sexual assault.

The change, which is expected to be ready for approval by the end of the year, is among the 48 recommendations from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour in a scathing report about military culture in May 2022.

Jocelyne Therrien is serving as an external monitor whose job is to track the work to implement the recommendations.

Therrien says in her second report that the process to change Armed Forces policies is labour-intensive, and even simple changes can take months.

The Arbour report called on the federal government to remove the military's jurisdiction over all sexual offences in the Criminal Code -- something the defence minister says will happen in the coming months.

Since December 2021, 142 of 275 cases reported to military police have been referred to civilian police services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2023.

IN DEPTH

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS What do the policies Poilievre's party passed say about the Conservatives' future?

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent the summer speaking about housing affordability, a core focus that attendees at the party's Quebec City convention were quick to praise him for. But by the end of the weekend, delegates opted to instead pass policies on contentious social issues. What does that say about the Conservatives' future?

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: With Trudeau resignation fever rising, a Conservative nightmare appears

With speculation rising that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will follow his father's footsteps in the snow to a pre-election resignation, political columnist Don Martin focuses on one Liberal cabinet minister who's emerging as leadership material -- and who stands out as a fresh-faced contrast to the often 'angry and abrasive' leader of the Conservatives.

OPINION

OPINION Don Martin: Life in Trudeau's brain defies imagination

Getting inside Justin Trudeau's head these days requires a vivid imagination. The prime minister's bizarre statement on the Middle East war this week reflects a distorted view that human-shielded resistance by Hamas terrorists can be overcome with "maximum restraint" by Israel's military.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Here is Canada's unseasonably mild December forecast

December is predicted to be unseasonably mild across Canada, thanks to a "moderate-to-strong" El Nino and human-caused warming. Warming and precipitation trends will be stronger in some parts of the country than others, and severe weather is still possible, meteorologists say.

Stay Connected