The Canadian Armed Forces has made “significant inroads” over the past three years in changing the culture around sexual misconduct, but faces challenges in ensuring those changes are long-term, a new report says.
The findings are included in the sixth and final progress report from the external monitor overseeing the implementation of recommendations from former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour, whose independent report in 2022 called for a dramatic overall of how the military confronts and addresses sexual harassment and abuse.
Arbour’s report sought to address the “deficient” parts of a culture that have kept sexual misconduct and abuse of power entrenched within military leadership, following extensive Global News reporting on allegations against senior officers.
The external monitor, Jocelyne Therrien, said Thursday that a majority of the 48 recommendations in Arbour’s report have “substantively been actioned.” She highlighted “milestones” in that work such as the repeal of duty to report regulations, probationary periods for new recruits, access to free legal advice for victims and more thorough documentation of past behaviour to inform promotion decisions.
However, the final report notes that “challenges remain” in ensuring lasting change, “some of which are structural and may impact progression.”
Therrien found CAF members trained for military duties are involved in writing policy, rather than merely advising those crafting the guidance. “Never-ending” consultations have also resulted in “unnecessarily lengthy” and confusing policy documents that are difficult to follow and implement.
“This is hardly sustainable as, inevitably, policies and related documents become out of sync with the objectives of the organization and the outcomes that it seeks,” she writes.
“Such is the case with the (Defence Administrative Order and Directive documents) on sexual misconduct and personal relationships,” both of which Therrien said are nevertheless close to being completed.
The report also calls for a more responsive, centralized approach from senior leadership on implementing changes as well as enhanced data collection on how misconduct complaints are resolved to fully understand the scope of the issue.
As well, Therrien notes that questions remain on how the CAF defines a “minor” transgression, which could mean it is dealt with differently at the disciplinary level.
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“One thing is clear: there needs to be an unequivocal determination as to what ‘minor’ represents,” the report says, noting that “what may have been considered ‘minor’ forms of sexual misconduct in previous years are now clearly identified as sexual assault, including a slap on the buttocks.
“There also needs to be a common understanding that misconduct by individuals in leadership/mentoring roles is automatically a seriously aggravating factor in the determination of continued employment,” Therrien adds.
The report does note that the military has agreed to adopt the Arbour report’s recommendation “that the term ‘sexual assault’ would be defined as any ‘intentional, non-consensual touching of a sexual nature,’” including inappropriate touching.
Therrien concludes that the military will have an ongoing duty to confront and root out toxic workplace behaviour quickly and transparently.
“In my view, the most effective prevention method would be to ensure that the people who have difficulty abiding by the CAF’s ethical standards are dealt with expeditiously, commensurate with what the public would expect of a professional organization,” she writes.
“It is said that an organization’s culture is defined by the behaviour that it tolerates.”
Global News first brought to light allegations in February 2021 of sexual misconduct against senior leaders in the Canadian Forces — the first of dozens of exclusive reports into such allegations and the military’s handling of them over the ensuing 18 months.
The political and social uproar over the allegations spurred the government to appoint Arbour to conduct an independent investigation — six years after another former Supreme Court justice, Marie Deschamps, concluded in her own report that the military was home to a “toxic” culture.
In a statement, Defence Minister David McGuinty thanked Therrien for her work and committed to continuing the mission of reforming the military’s culture.
He said the government expects all of Arbour’s recommendations to be “nearly complete” by the end of this year.
“Implementing institutional change is complex and requires sustained effort and vigilance,” McGuinty said.
“I am deeply grateful that Madame Therrien has been guiding us on this journey over the past three pivotal years. Her insights have helped translate our commitments into meaningful action and real change for CAF members.”
In September, McGuinty reintroduced the Liberals’ military justice reform legislation that would remove the military’s ability to investigate and prosecute alleged sexual offences within Canada under the Criminal Code, and turn it over to civilian authorities. The change was among Arbour’s recommendations, but the legislation died in the last Parliament.
In her report, Therrien warns some of the actions taken to address other recommendations only met the “intent” of what was proposed, “as a proxy to the precise method proposed.”
“In other areas, the improvement achieved has caused another issue to become more obvious, such as the flow-through to training after recruitment numbers began to climb,” the report added.
The repeal of duty to report regulations, for example, was “the first step” and must be followed by ensuring alignment in all CAF directives and training guides to ensure members understand what it means in practice — “a large task” that “appears to be incomplete,” she writes.
She said reforms to military college culture and training have been further informed by independent reviews, whose recommendations are also being implemented.
Thursday’s report points to ongoing mistrust in the military’s ability to address sexual misconduct for why it’s necessary to make necessary changes.
A 2022 Statistics Canada survey found 64 per cent of sexual assault victims in the military did not report the incident to anyone in authority, while a 2023 internal survey said 48 per cent of men and just 29 per cent of women agreed that members who commit sexual misconduct are held accountable.
Therrien used her final point in the report to urge members affected by sexual misconduct to reach out to the military’s Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre, despite some calls to make it a wholly independent agency.
She said keeping the centre’s reporting structure within the Department of National Defence “provides advantages that would not exist elsewhere,” including getting attention from DND leadership on critical matters.
“While no organization is perfect, this one is in a very good position to not only provide individual help, but also to signal trends and systemic failures to the senior leadership of the DND/CAF,” she wrote.
“I believe that this is a key ingredient to continuous improvement.”
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