Deschamps laments progress on military misconduct amid calls for external oversight

OTTAWA

Retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps is criticizing the Canadian Armed Forces for not having done more to address sexual misconduct, as experts call for more independent oversight of the military to finally root such behaviour from the ranks.

Deschamps told a parliamentary committee Monday that she had expected more progress from the military since she issued an explosive report in 2015 detailing a highly sexualized culture in the Armed Forces. She noted that some of her recommendations are still gathering dust.

That includes establishing a truly independent centre outside the military’s chain of command that would be the main authority for receiving reports of inappropriate and criminal behaviour from service members and the military as a whole.

“I have the impression that very little has changed,”

Deschamps told the House of Commons defence committee.

Deschamps’s comments and the calls for more independent oversight come after allegations against former chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance, who spent his five years as Canada’s top commander driving efforts to end sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces.

Vance is now accused of having himself acted inappropriately while in uniform, allegations he has denied.