Gen. Vance spells it out

Sexist jokes about “purses” and “pussies” are out. So are sleazy photos, crude language and offensive sexual remarks.

Canada’s new chief of the defence staff, Gen. Jonathan Vance, is on a mission to seek out and eradicate sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces, and it shows in the tough Operation Honour orders he has just issued.

“Any form of harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour is a threat to the morale and operational readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces, undermines good order and discipline, is inconsistent with the values of the profession of arms . . . and is wrong,” the new orders state. “Proper conduct starts now.” And woe betide the colonel, captain or corporal who turns a blind eye. There’s no “grace period.”

Moreover, Vance seems prepared to take any flak his demand for a culture change may generate by way of a surge in reports of sexual misconduct. “This should be seen as progress,” his orders state.

Indeed it should. As former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps acidly noted in a recent report, Canada’s 90,000-member military is a misogynistic cesspit where too many of its 10,000 women face hostility, disparagement, sexual harassment and outright assault. Sexual misconduct is “endemic,” she found.

Yet for decades the military brass claimed to champion “zero tolerance” for such abuses, despite all evidence to the contrary. If Gen. Vance accomplishes nothing else in his stint at the top, he will do the ranks a service by coming down hard on this poisonous threat to morale and cohesiveness.

The list of sins Vance aims to stamp out is a long one. It includes behaviour that devalues people on the basis of gender, sexuality or orientation. That includes crude language and jokes. Workplace porn. Ugly sexual remarks and abuse. Exploiting power relations for sex. Unwelcome advances. Voyeurism, indecent acts, sexual interference, exploitation and assault. Anything that erodes “mutual trust, respect, honour and dignity.”

Vance’s acknowledgment of the seriousness of the issue, his forceful new orders and his broad guidelines on what constitutes sexual misconduct go a long way to meeting Deschamps’ recommendations for reform.

So does the creation of a fledgling interim Sexual Misconduct Response Centre for the military, though the jury will remain out on its effectiveness until it is fully operational two years from now, with a clear governance structure, mandate and operational model.

Deschamps rightly called for a robustly “independent centre . . . outside the CAF” that would receive and handle complaints, support victims, advocate for them in investigations and monitor accountability.

She also wisely advocated letting victims complain directly to civilian authorities. In the United States, nearly two-thirds of women in the military who filed sexual assault complaints last year said they faced retaliation.

While the Canadian military has promised to implement Deschamps’s recommendations, it remains to be seen whether it fully embraces her vision of the centre’s independence and role.

As things stand, the centre will be led by a civilian executive and will operate outside the CAF chain-of-command, but firmly within the Department of National Defence and be accountable to the deputy minister. The centre will provide information and support to victims, including referrals to “existing resources and complaint mechanisms” both military and civilian. But it will still be very much a creature of the military.

Moreover, Vance has urged victims of harassment or inappropriate behaviour to “reach out to your chain of command”; to the Military Police; or to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, an independent unit of the military police. That, too, suggests an impetus to have the military sort out its problems.

Worthy as Vance’s new marching orders are, the victims centre must be genuinely independent and complainants must be encouraged to seek redress where they can best obtain it. Anything less will subvert this mission.

Canada’s new chief of the defence staff is on a mission to eradicate sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces