Bucking and stalling?

BILL C-77 PASSED INTO LAW IN JUNE 2010 HAS YET TO BE PUT INTO FORCE. WHY? 

On May 10, 2018, Bill C-77  An Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts  was introduced in the House of Commons by the Minister of National Defence. Following second reading on October 15, 2018, the bill was referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence, which reported the bill back to the House of Commons. The bill received third reading in the House of Commons on  February28, 2019. It passed the Senate without amendment and received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. became part of the  as S.C. 2019, c.15.

 PURPOSE

 The purpose of Bill C-77 was two-fold:

A.    Repealed the Summary Trials procedure replacing with a non-judicial Summary Hearings;

B.    Added a new Division to the National Defence Act entitled "Declaration of Victims Rights" that specifies that victims of service officers have a right to information, protection, participation and restitution in respect to service offences. 

JAG OFFICERS HAVE ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE AFTER ATTENDING EACH OF THE 11 PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES MEETINGS REVIEWING BILL C--77 IN 2018 and 2019.

 House of Commons. The Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) met on seven separate occasions to consider Bill C-77. It heard  22 witnesses including the following JAG officers: Commodore Geneviève Bernatchez (JAG) , Colonel Stephen Strickey (3 times); LCol Genevieve Lortie (4 times) and Major Karl Lacharité. 

Senate of Canada. The Standing Committee on National Security and Defence considered Bill C-77 at four  separate meetings during which it heard from the following JAG officers: Commodore Geneviève Bertnatchez (JAG), Colonel Stephen Strickey, Lieutenant-Colonel Genevieve Lortie). The Bill 

BILL C-77 STILL AWAITS BEING PUT INTO FORCE

Despite having been passed into law close to 2½ years ago after a year-long parliamentary review process during which several key JAG officers participated, the Office of the JAG has been unable yet to put the Bill C-77 into force denying victims of crimes the protection enacted into law 30 months ago.  This extraordinary long and unacceptable delay also means that CAF members are still subject to a statutory summary trials procedure which has been repealed by Parliament in June 2019.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and its system of government holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation. In the case of Bill C-77, the supremacy of Parliament is being unduly tested.