Civilian authorities in Canada should be responsible for investigating alleged sexual offences in the military, a former Supreme Court justice has said, after an extensive review of sexual assault and misconduct claims in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
In her final report on Monday, Louise Arbour made 48 recommendations to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to address what she and other experts have previously described as an “endemic” problem.
“The exposure of sexual misconduct in the CAF has shed light on a deeply deficient culture fostered by a rigid and outdated structure that did little to modernize it,” the report reads.
During a news conference in Ottawa unveiling her findings, Arbour said she saw “no basis for the Canadian Armed Forces to retain any jurisdiction over sexual offences, and that jurisdiction should be vested exclusively with civilian authorities”.
She also recommended that sexual harassment cases be investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, a human rights watchdog, and said victims should have access to independent legal advice as soon as possible.
“While the current leadership of the CAF has expressed a strong commitment to culture change, I believe it is unlikely to be effected without first a change in its culture of isolation and resistance,” the report said.
The recommendations came after several polls, independent reviews and Canadian media investigations during the past years that detailed the pervasive issue of sexual assault and misconduct in the CAF.
Senior Canadian defence officials, including Defence Minister Anita Anand, apologised late last year for the government’s failure to adequately respond to the crisis. That apology was part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed against the government by almost 19,000 serving and retired members of the military, as well as civilian defence workers.
Several senior officers also have faced sexual misconduct investigations, including former Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance, who in March pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in relation to a probe into such allegations.
“Since early February 2021, 13 current and former senior Canadian military officers have been sidelined, investigated or forced into retirement from some of the most powerful and prestigious posts in the defence establishment,” public broadcaster CBC News reported.