Ottawa moves to strip military of power to investigate sexual offences
The federal government has introduced long-await‐ ed legislation to strip mili‐ tary police and the military justice system of the power to investigate and prose‐ cute sexual offences on Canadian soil.
The bill, tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday, also proposes changes to the way military judges, the Canadian Forces provost marshal, the director of military prosecutions and the director of defence coun‐ sel services are appointed.
Defence Minister Bill Blair said Thursday that, since he was appointed to the port‐ folio last summer, he's worked to modernize the mil‐ itary in line with recommen‐ dations made in two land‐ mark reviews.
In his remarks at a press conference, he spoke directly to members of the Armed Forces who are survivors of sexual assault and sexual misconduct.
"I want you to know that we have heard you," Blair said. "We have heard that you want to serve Canada in a respectful, supportive and safe environment. And I want to assure all who serve, or may wish to serve, [that] we will do what is required to keep you safe."
Handing jurisdiction over investigating and prosecuting sexual offences to the civilian justice system has been the subject of intense negotia‐ tions between the federal government and the provinces, senior defence of‐ ficials said on background af‐ ter the legislation was tabled.
Civilian control of those cases was the core recom‐ mendation of an indepen‐ dent, external review con‐ ducted by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, who was tasked by the feder‐ al government with studying the sexual misconduct scan‐ dal that has rocked the mili‐ tary.
For a number of months and on an interim basis, the military has been handing sexual assault cases over to civilian authorities.
The Department of Na‐ tional Defence says that 285 Criminal Code sexual offence files were reported to mili‐ tary police between Decem‐ ber 2021 and Jan. 29, 2024. Of those,150 have been re‐ ferred to federal, provincial, territorial and municipal police agencies - civilian police have accepted 103 of them and have declined 46.
Those that were not ac‐ cepted were handled by the military police.
The new legislation says that sexual misconduct cases arising where troops are de‐ ployed outside of Canada can still be investigated by mili‐ tary police. Arbour's report did not object to allowing mil‐ itary police to conduct inves‐ tigations abroad, but said those investigations should be handed off quickly to civil‐ ian justice systems where ap‐ propriate.
Senior defence officials said they're still working on rules for sexual misconduct investigations outside Cana‐ da. And other aspects of the jurisdictional change are also still being thrashed out.
For example, the rules governing civilian police ac‐ cess to military bases - to in‐ terview victims and examine crime scenes - have not been fully drafted. Defence offi‐ cials said those rules could be negotiated at a local level, or could be written into agreements being negotiated with individual provinces.
Blair said he's confident civilian authorities won't face hassles getting access to mili‐ tary personnel and property.
"If police have responsibil‐ ity, and they clearly do, then they also have the authority to do what is required to fulfil those responsibilities," Blair told reporters. "They will be able to, of course, have ac‐ cess to whatever place in Canada they require to con‐ duct their investigations,"
'Mission accomplished,' says military law expert
Retired colonel Michel Dra‐ peau, a military law expert who has campaigned for years to see the legislation changed, said victims will fi‐ nally be able to receive jus‐ tice going forward.
"To me, it's mission ac‐ complished," said Drapeau. "Not my mission, but mission accomplished on behalf of the victims.
"So now they can sleep better tonight knowing that the Canadian society will look after them fully to the same extent as their sisters or brothers [in the civilian wor‐ ld] if they were ever to be‐ come victims of sexual as‐ sault or sexual misconduct."
The changes to the ap‐ pointment process for senior military justice officials stem from recommendations made by former Supreme Court justice Morris J. Fish in his 2021 review of the mili‐ tary justice system.
Making the military's top police officer, top prosecutor and defence counsel direct government appointments will ensure they are insulated from real or perceived influ‐ ence from the chain of com‐ mand, Blair said.
This legislation also would expand the eligibility criteria for military judges to include non-commissioned mem‐ bers. Defence officials said that measure would help di‐ versify the pool of potential candidates.
Retired lieutenant-colonel Rory Fowler, a former mili‐ tary lawyer now in private practice, said he has a num‐ ber of questions about the changes to the administra‐ tion of military justice - but is most concerned about whether victims will get jus‐ tice from an already over‐ whelmed civilian system.
"Ultimately, this isn't a so‐ lution," said Fowler. "There is little evidence to support the proposition that this will im‐ prove the timeliness, effi‐ ciency, effectiveness, or fair‐ ness of prosecution of such [sexual] offences."
Some survivors, such as former master corporal Stephanie Raymond, are tak‐ ing a cautious, wait-and-see approach to the new legisla‐ tion.
Prior to 2020, her case was one of the highest-pro‐ file sexual assault cases in‐ volving the Canadian military.
Former warrant officer André Gagnon was charged with assaulting Raymond, who alleged she was raped by him following a party in 2011 near Quebec City. He was tried by court martial un‐ der the military system and found not guilty. The case was appealed and eventually handed over to the civilian system, where Gagnon pleaded guilty.
Raymond said she's "skep‐ tical" about the legislation's prospects for delivering jus‐ tice to victims.
"I wait to see if it will really happen," she said,