Canada’s soldiers deserve a fair justice system

When Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan revealed on May 10 that the federal government was planning a thorough revamp of the country’s military justice system, he was likely trying to get in front of what he knew would be a damning report from Auditor General Michael Ferguson.

The minister promised that Bill C-77, which will modernize Canada’s Code of Service Discipline, and will extend to members of the military facing criminal charges many of the same rights enjoyed by defendants in civilian courts.

The bill also promises to grant victims of crime in military tribunals the right to be informed about the proceedings and provides a mechanism to consider special circumstances for Indigenous military members facing jail sentences. The changes have been years in the making and were originated by Stephen Harper’s government, but died when the 2015 election was called.

Current military justice is rough. Soldiers facing less serious criminal charges are not entitled to a defence lawyer and can face proceedings where both the prosecutor and judge are the same person, often their commanding officer.

In these summary trials, rules of evidence do not apply, there is no mechanism for appeals and transcripts of the proceedings are not required. Officers conducting these hearings often have little legal training.

These measures were handed down to Canada’s military by their former British masters, when the empire was constantly at war and rapid justice was considered necessary to enforce discipline in the face of the enemy. It’s one thing to flog a Victorian-era sailor for drunkenness, but we’d like to think our society has evolved to the point where flogging is considered cruel and unusual punishment.

And if flogging is cruel, the system that led to such sadistic punishment must also be considered inadequate, to say the least. So we can all agree that a fairer military justice system is long overdue.

We’d like to toot our own horn here, or at least that of freelance journalist Tim Dunne, who in the pages of this newspaper has campaigned tirelessly for military justice reform. Maybe Dunne’s articles achieved their desired effect.

Ferguson delivered his report earlier this month. He found that, on average, the military was taking almost 18 months to complete these cases, just shy of the legal limit in civilian courts. In 10 cases, the delays were so severe that the charges had to be dropped.

He also said the military’s case management was sloppy, its internal communications were inadequate and that previous recommendations from past auditors general weren’t acted on.

To its credit, the government agreed with all of Ferguson’s points and promised to follow all of his recommendations.

But the shelves in thousands of Ottawa offices are lined with similar reports, recommendations and follow-up promises that nobody reads and will never be acted upon.

Let’s hope Bill C-77 makes its way through Parliament intact and that the Department of Defence pays more than lip service to Ferguson’s recommendations.