SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Jane Cordy

  • Senator
  • Progressive Senate Group
  • Nova Scotia
  • Jun/22/22 2:00:00 p.m.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Senator Gold, on May 20, after nearly a year of study, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour released her report on the external review into sexual harassment and misconduct in the Canadian military. Her report consisted of 48 recommendations.

As you mentioned in this chamber to a question from Senator Coyle, Minister Anand committed to implementing 17 of those recommendations immediately.

My question concerns recommendation number 5 — which is not one of those 17 — which states that Criminal Code sexual offences should be removed from the jurisdiction of the Canadian Armed Forces and they should be prosecuted exclusively in civilian criminal courts in all cases. Senator Gold, could you let us know what is the hesitation to committing to this recommendation?

A similar recommendation came out of a previous 2015 study of sexual harassment and misconduct in the Canadian military. I’m just wondering what are the barriers for the transfer of the cases to civilian investigation and prosecution?

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