Canadian military police have tried to transfer 62 cases of sexual assault to civilian police forces since last fall, but about half of those files have been rejected and sent back.
The Canadian Armed Forces released new figures in response to requests from CBC News and the publication of an independent report on the military’s misconduct crisis.
Brigadier General of the Canadian Armed Forces. Simon Trudeau confirmed that the army has tried to transfer 49 new cases of sexual assault to the civilian police since November 2021. Police forces accepted 22 of the files and rejected 27 of them.
The military police also tried to transfer 13 ongoing cases to the civilian police; nine of these cases are now being investigated and four cases have been denied.
“The transfer and referral of cases raises a wide range of complex issues,” Trudeau wrote in a statement on the figures, which were current on May 30.
“Some agencies were unwilling to accept investigations for reasons that reflect the diversity of law enforcement contexts in Canada.”
The figures show the challenges facing the military in trying to act on an interim recommendation by former Supreme Court Judge Louise Arbor to transfer military sexual assault cases to civilian investigators.
On Monday, Arbor released a comprehensive final report calling for the Canadian Forces to be permanently stripped of their 1998 power to investigate and prosecute sex crimes among the military.
Arbor demanded that the military hand over the files of sexual offenses to civilians as part of its interim recommendations last fall, recommendations that Defense Minister Anita Anand accepted in November 2021.
Arbor now wants this change to be permanent by giving civilian police exclusive jurisdiction over cases of military sexual misconduct. He said it would offer “more equity for the victims.”
Some civilian police forces are reluctant to accept cases
Arbor has raised serious concerns about the army being “willing to maintain” its jurisdiction. He also pointed out during a press conference on Monday that the civilian police forces “already, surprisingly, in my opinion, have in some cases expressed some reluctance to exercise a jurisdiction they currently have.”
“While some external police forces were open to receiving files almost immediately, others refused to accept any file that included CAF members,” Arbour’s report said.
Arbour’s report said the BC mayoral caucus sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Anand in January warning that “the civil justice system is currently beyond the ability to be in the first place. line to combat the COVID-19 “pandemic.
The Ontario Police Chiefs Association has warned the province’s attorney general that taking on military sexual misconduct could open the door to many historic allegations of sexual offenses, according to Arbour’s report.
LOOK: Louise Arbor talks about handing over sexual offense files to civilian police
Arbor discusses the recommendation for civilian police control of cases of military sexual misconduct
Former Supreme Court Judge Louise Arbor explains her reasons for recommending that civilian police have ongoing oversight of military sexual misconduct.
The group also said investigators should be trained in the military context and raised concerns about investigators’ access to military documents, the report adds.
The Quebec Police Directors Association said it could not accept any military files without the approval of the province’s public safety minister, Arbor wrote, while the British Columbia Police Chiefs Association recommended that the police services refuse to accept military files until legal and procedural issues are resolved.
The RCMP began accepting cases in the new year
Not all police forces resisted.
Anand said the RCMP began accepting army cases in January. The Quebec Ministry of Public Security is advising the provincial police force to accept new files from February. Several local police forces have also accepted cases on an ad hoc basis, Anand said.
“We have made substantial progress in diverting investigations to civilian police services,” Anand said in a statement to CBC News on Thursday.
“As Madame Arbor explains in her report, there have been challenges with certain jurisdictions. To that end, I am writing back to provincial and territorial partners this week about the way forward.”
Anand said he plans to set up an intergovernmental body to handle the transfer of cases. Arbor has said this should not be necessary.
MIR: Defense Minister Anita Anand reacts to Louise Arbor’s report
Anand reacts to report on the Canadian Army
National Defense Minister Anita Anand says she accepts the recommendations in a report by former Supreme Court Judge Louise Arbor on the Canadian Army.
Arbor estimates in its report that taking on military files would leave civilian police forces in most provinces and territories with only about 20 additional sexual assault investigations a year, according to military statistics from 2016 to 2021. Ontario is the exception; Arbour’s report said police in the province may have to deal with about 70 cases a year.
Arbor also said he estimates that only 30 cases of sexual misconduct are prosecuted in the military judicial system nationwide each year. Civilian courts prosecute more than 2,300 cases of sexual assault a year, he said.
“We’re talking about 30 cases a year across the country, seriously,” Arbor told a news conference Monday.
Arbor pointed to the example of impaired driving cases. He said that while military and civilian authorities have jurisdiction over such cases, the military is “delighted to let civilians” handle them.
Elaine Craig of Dalhousie University is an expert in sexual assault law and conducts research on the Canadian military judicial system. He said he found it “very worrying” that civilian police forces had rejected so many military records.
“I think it’s important to emphasize that the civilian system has had full jurisdiction all along,” Craig said.
“It seems to me that the civilian police forces that accept these cases … are doing their job and those who reject them, looking for more money or work groups or nothing, are not fulfilling their responsibilities. And, frankly, these survivors are failing. “.
The expert calls for changes to the National Defense Act
Longtime military law expert and retired Colonel Michel Drapeau argues that the only way real change will occur is if the government amends section 70 of the National Defense Act to ban the military from prosecuting crimes. sexual.
Drapeau said as long as the military maintains legal jurisdiction, civilian authorities have the option to say no and dismiss the cases.
“The only way to make sure it’s done 100% is to amend section 70 and return sexual assault as one of the crimes for which the military has no jurisdiction,” Drapeau said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Article 70 states that the military cannot try military personnel accused of murder, manslaughter and a number of other crimes.
Anand described Arbour’s request to permanently transfer cases to civilians as a “system change recommendation” that the government would “seriously” consider while the interim measure was in effect.
“I am writing again to the provincial and territorial partners this week on the way forward … I am firmly committed to ensuring that those who have been sexually abused receive the support they deserve,” Anand said.
The Rector of the Canadian Forces said that military police are currently transferring cases to civilians in a “deliberate and carefully planned manner” and that “the main concern is to support the victims throughout the process.”
“Our goal is for the civil police services to investigate all criminal sex crimes that have allegedly been committed by a CAF member over which they have jurisdiction,” the brigadier general wrote. They struggled in a statement.