Canadian military's abject failure to assist civilian victims of sexual assault

November 30, 2021. Canada's national newspaper THE GLOBE AND MAIL publishes an exposé titled " Military Failure to enact the Victims' Declaration of Rights leaving sexual assault and other victims without support." by Marieke Walsh.

 "More than two years, and two elections, after the Liberal government passed a bill guaranteeing the rights of victims with cases in the military justice system, the law has not been fully enacted – leaving people without basic guarantees and supports during a complex and traumatic process.

Although the law was passed in 2019, the Defence Department and the Canadian Armed Forces have not yet completed the regulations that will bring it into force.

Bill C-77 includes provisions that would guarantee victims in the military justice system more of the basic rights that people in the civilian courts have had for years – including the right to information about the case, participation in the process and restitution.

In her 2019-20 annual report, Judge Advocate General Geneviève Bernatchez, who is a rear-admiral, said it would take “several years” to fully implement Bill C-77 because of the need for consultations and to develop policy. (The Judge Advocate General’s office oversees the administration of the military justice system.)

The lengthy delay is “an affront to the Parliamentary process and the democratic process” and an “insult to these victims,” Mr. Drapeau said in an interview with The Globe. The Liberal government introduced the bill in the House of Commons in 2017. It replaced a bill that died on the order paper before the 2015 election. The 2017 bill contained little that was different from its predecessor to explain the long delay in implementing it, he said.

The snail’s pace is emblematic of how the Canadian Armed Forces have dealt with other aspects of sexual misconduct, said Megan MacKenzie, a professor at Simon Fraser University who researches gender and the military. Prof. MacKenzie said in the case of Bill C-77 and a 2015 report on sexual misconduct and harassment in the military, there are “clear calls to action, and then just years go by where no one’s really sure if anything is happening."