Hon. Louise Arbour's Report on Sexual Misconduct in Canadian military

 

Arbour: Military must give up jurisdiction over sexual assault cases

        Retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louise Arbour released her 403-page Final Report of the Independent Review into Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces on May 30, 2022. 

        Justice Arbour's encyclopaedic report addresses a wide range of subject areas. It contains no less than 48 separate recommendations.  

 Arbour: Overall assessment of Canadian military culture

    Justice Arbour was anything but reserved in her analysis. She describes the armed forces as an institution that is fundamentally out of sync with the values of Canadian society, and which poses a “liability” to the country.

“Firmly entrenched in its historical way of life, the military has failed to keep pace with the values and expectations of a pluralistic Canadian society, increasingly sophisticated about the imperative of the rule of law,”

“Operating as a totally self-regulated, self-administered organization, entirely reliant on deference to authority, it has failed to align with the ever-changing, progressive society we live in. This disconnect is a liability for the CAF and for Canada.”

Some of the areas studied by Justice Arbour are:  (a) Structure of the DND and the CAF organizations; (b) the prevalence of sexual misconduct therein; (c) the existing military justice system and procedures; (d) the grievance procedure; (e) the continued utility of Royal Military Colleges; (f) the transfer of jurisdiction of sexual assault to civilian courts; (g) victim support; (h) military leadership; (i) civilian oversight; (j) military training and recruiting; and (k) military human resources management.

    In her report, Justice Arbour went on to note  that: 

“If the military's culture is ever going to change, it needs to fully accept a "paradigm shift . .  .when thinking about culture change in response to the sexual misconduct crisis, the CAF leadership seems to have been incapable of examining which aspects of its culture have been the most deficient,”

        Among her 48 recommendations, 

·       Criminal Code sexual offences to be removed from the jurisdiction of the CAF. They are to be investigated and prosecuted by civilian police and criminal courts in all cases. According to Justice Arbour: 

    “The handling of sexual offences by military courts over the past 20 years has done very little to improve efficiency, discipline and morale. If anything, it has served to erode it,”

·       Grievances related to sexual misconduct will be prioritized and fast-tracked. They are to be disposed of within three months.

·       An external review will be conducted on the benefits, disadvantages and costs for the CAF to continue to educate ROTP cadets at military colleges and determine whether officer candidates should also be required to attend civilian university undergraduates programs instead through the ROTP.

·       There should be a system of progressive targets for the promotion of women in order to increase the number of women in each rank level.

·        Appoint an External Monitor to track the progress of her report recommendations for change

Approval in principle of all recommendations by the Minister

          Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Anita Anand, said that of the 48 recommendations Justice Arbour makes in her report, her department is moving to implement 17 in the near term. The remainder, she said, will require a more complex analysis that will take place in the coming months.

"I agree with all of Madame Arbour's recommendations. I welcome all of them . . .

I spoke with the prime minister and he as well agrees with all of Madame Arbour's recommendations."