Forces harassment cases put on hold
OTTAWA • The federal government is launching settlement talks for three proposed class-action lawsuits filed by former Canadian Forces members who say they experienced harassment and discrimination while in uniform.
Word of the decision comes two weeks after Justin Trudeau blasted the Justice Department for its response to one of the proposed suits, although the government refused to say whether the prime minister’s comments played a role.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced the planned negotiations on Friday, saying the plaintiffs in the proposed lawsuits had agreed to suspend their litigation and that the government would in turn drop its efforts to quash the cases and seek to resolve the cases outside court.
Two of the proposed lawsuits were brought forward by former members who say they were sexually assaulted or harassed while in uniform, while the third relates to allegations of endemic racism and discrimination against visible minorities and Indigenous service personnel.
“We look forward to commencing these discussions to bring closure, healing and acknowledgment to the victims and survivors of sexual assault, racism, harassment and discrimination,” Sajjan said in a statement.
“We fully acknowledge the impact that racism and harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour may have on victims and survivors. This behaviour, as well as discrimination based on gender or race, must be stopped in our society.”
Government officials would not provide further details, including when the talks would begin or what prompted the decision to launch talks.
But Garth Myers, a lawyer with Toronto-based Koskie Minsky, one of five law firms involved in the sexualmisconduct lawsuits, said all indications were that the government planned to fight the lawsuit until about two weeks ago.
That’s when Trudeau said Justice Department lawyers were out of line for arguing the government did not owe a “duty of care” to military personnel “to provide a safe and harassment-free work environment, or to create policies to prevent sexual harassment or sexual assault.”
He ordered Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould “to follow up with the lawyers to make sure that we argue things that are consistent with this government’s philosophy.”
Myers could not say whether the sudden change was a direct result of Trudeau’s intervention, though he confirmed the agreement between the government and various law firms to start settlement talks came after those comments.
Military commanders have been grappling for the past few years with how to eliminate sexual misconduct from the ranks and make the Forces more diverse and representative of society.