Ottawa said military would send sexual offence cases to civilian police. It retained nearly 70%

armed forces law failed to reassign almost 70 per cent of sexual offence cases o'er the past times five years to civilian police, despite the government committing to doing so as it worked to pass a permanent change into law.

New data shows military police held on to 595 out of 879 of these cases since 2021.

"I find that disturbing to say the least," said retired colonel Michel Drapeau, a lawyer who represented victims. 

"I'm surprised and disappointed."

Anita Anand, the defence minister at the time, stood in the House of Commons in late 2021 and said the government accepted retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour's recommendation for the cases to be transferred to civilians on an interim basis until the government changed the law to strip the military of this power. 

The government had hired Arbour, who is now Governor General, to review the military's sexual misconduct crisis that saw high-profile military leaders facing allegations. 

Anita Anand moving military sexual misconduct cases to civilian justice system

In her final report, Abour found the military's judicial system faced "major challenges" over the decades handling sexual offence cases which became "insurmountable" and eroded public trust. 

Her key recommendation was recently passed in Bill C-11.

Anand sent a letter to Arbour in November 2021 confirming the military justice system was working on a way to refer these alleged crimes perpetrated by serving and former military to civilian police and courts.

Defence Minister David McGuinty's office said the government had agreed to Arbour's recommendation "in full," but out of respect for the military's independence didn't issue a directive ordering the Forces to act. 

Instead, officials with the military's judicial system issued their own directive for military police and prosecutors in response to Arbour's recommendation.

The office said the passage of C-11 now provides "unequivocal clarity to victims and military and civilian law enforcement authorities" that the military's justice system no longer has jurisdiction.

But Drapeau calls it misleading that military police in the interim ended up holding on to the majority of sexual offence cases. 

"They were determined and they were actually convinced that they possess the authority to continue without having to bend or submit to any other external influence," said Drapeau. 

Rare look at how Canadian Forces investigates sexual assault allegations

The military left prosecuting these cases to civilian courts. But the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal Brig.-Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan, the head of the military police, told senators earlier this month that her office "did not stop investigating."

"The bulk of our files were not actually transferred" because military police took a "victim-centred, trauma-informed approach," she testified on June 8 in the Senate.

"We looked at the victim's preference. We looked at public safety concerns. We looked at the investigation as it unfolded. We allowed the military police to retain them."

Hanrahan said over the past few years, military police saw an increase in the number of alleged victims asking for their investigators to hold on to their files. 

But the data shows only 38 per cent of cases military police retained were based on the victim's preference. 

In another 15 per cent of the retained cases, alleged victims decided they didn't want to go ahead with any kind police investigation, according to the data. 

New law to strip Canada's military of power to handle sexual assault cases

Megan MacKenzie, an expert in military culture, said having to choose who should investigate puts victims in a difficult position. 

"All that's available, all that has been known to them, has been the military system," said MacKenzie, the Simons Chair in Peace, Disarmament and Human Security.

"So in some ways, it makes sense for victims to choose the military system."

Arbour said victims shouldn't choose who investigates their file because it puts them in an untenable position where they may regret that choice if there's an acquittal.

The provost marshal's office also pointed to other reasons sexual offence investigations weren't transferred to civilians: 

Out of the 284 cases transferred to civilians, 69 were declined by civilian police. The military police ended up investigating some of those files, the data shows.

MacKenzie said military police probably had "positive intentions," but it's important to remember Arbour made this recommendation because the military system for years failed to show victims they can hold perpetrators accountable.

She said the law needed to change because otherwise military police would continue to find ways to hold on to cases.

Military sexual misconduct investigations should move to criminal courts, report says

"There's no reason for the military to want to cede power on any issue, especially when it comes to prosecuting its own service members," said MacKenzie. 

Arbour also warned a parliamentary committee in 2022 that unless the law passed, the "evidence so far" showed the military would continue to consider itself the primary investigators and "surprisingly, civilian authorities seem very happy to decline to exercise their own jurisdiction."

Hanrahan told senators that effective June 15, as a "preparatory measure" all military police would stop accepting any new sexual assault or sexual offence complaints. 

Two military sexual assault cases were stayed in civilian courts in 2023 because of unreasonable delays. In both cases, the judges said the military contributed to some delays. 

The new law requires the defence minister to launch an external review in three years and provide data to decide if the law is effective or should be repealed.

The law will go into effect in mid August. 

Senior reporter

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