Disputes between the federal government and provinces over funds and other resources are slowing efforts to transfer military police investigations and prosecutions of alleged sex crimes to civilian authorities.
Defense Minister Anita Anand said last November that Canada’s armed forces would begin transferring criminal sex offenses to civilian police forces and the courts on an interim basis.
The decision followed an interim recommendation from Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor, who was in the midst of leading an external review of sexual misconduct and harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces. He said it was necessary to move cases from the military to the civilian police and the courts to remove widespread mistrust and doubts about the military’s ability to handle such cases properly.
Provost Marshal Brigadier-General. Simon Trudeau, the military’s top police officer, reported last month that 22 new investigations and nine pre-existing cases had been accepted by civilian police forces, including the RCMP, the municipal police forces in Quebec and some other provinces.
Trudeau did not say that at least 23 cases have been dismissed by civilian officials and remain with military police amid disagreements between Ottawa and several provinces over funding and other resources.
Anand cited those numbers last month in a letter to Ontario’s then Solicitor General Sylvia Jones as he urged Jones to prompt police and courts in the province to accept transfers.
“It is our aim that the civil police services conduct investigations, and civil courts to decide all criminal code sexual offenses allegedly committed by a CAF member,” Anand wrote in the letter dated June 5.
“The civil justice system and civil law enforcement already have jurisdiction over these Criminal Code offenses, and I urge you to work to ensure that they exercise their jurisdiction and enforce the law. “
Anand’s letter made no mention of funding or other federal support, despite receiving a letter from Jones three months earlier emphasizing the need for additional resources to accommodate military affairs in Ontario’s “already tense system”. was.
Anand said instead that the federal government was considering permanently removing the military’s jurisdiction over criminal sex offenses – a move that would put all such investigations and trials in the lap of the provinces.
Pleasure After interim recommendation from former Supreme Court judge in fall vowed to transfer cases Louise Arborwho led a comprehensive external review into the culture of sexual misconduct military,
Its review was started three months before Global News informed of On allegations of unfair treatment by a retired general, a former top Canadian soldier. Jonathan Vance, Vance pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for his conduct last year after military police launched an investigation into those charges.
Since then, several senior military leaders have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as allegations of alleged sexual assault in several cases. Their cases are now being handled through the court system.
But despite promises to transfer cases, getting cases in the hands of civilian investigators remains a challenge.
Arbor noted in its report released in May that civilian officials were opposed to taking on military matters.
A spokesman for Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who took over the portfolio from Jones last month, outlined the provincial government’s claim that Ottawa needs to provide additional resources to facilitate case transfers.
“This includes the federal government providing concrete data on cases to be transferred to local police services so that they are equipped to investigate and pursue potential allegations, inter-provincially and internationally, in a manner that is helpful to victims of sexual assault.” Yes,” spokeswoman Hannah Jensen said. E-mail.
Ontario is not alone in the request.
A statement from British Columbia’s Ministry of Public Security and the Solicitor General also called for “adequate resources and consistent protocols, procedures and standards to support both live and civilian police.”
“We will continue to engage with BC police agencies, Victim Services and (the) BC Prosecution Service as the CAF works toward implementing the transfer of cases,” the statement said.
In its final report released in late May, Arbor noted that some police forces and associations representing police chiefs publicly and privately expressed their first call for the military to move cases under their jurisdiction. opposed the recommendation.
These included the Ontario Provincial Police, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and its counterparts in British Columbia.
Yet she noted that some other provinces and police services had agreed to accept such cases, including Quebec. She argued that based on historical trends, all provinces other than Ontario were likely to see fewer than 25 additional cases per year.
Ontario was expected to see about 70 new cases, but Arbor said there was no justification for saying no to shifting those numbers.
Of those opposed to taking over military affairs, he said, “The number of cases spread across the country, with slightly higher volumes around CAF bases and wings, and virtually none, could hardly explain the refusal to enforce the law.” justifies.”
“Targeted need for additional resources, if any, can be easily identified and accommodated.”
Arbor predicted that unless the federal government formally removed the military’s jurisdiction over criminal sex crimes, Ottawa and the province would engage in “implicit discussions” between the two sides.
While the spokesman for the Provost Marshal Lieutenant-Commander. James Bresolin says that as military police continue to handle cases that civilian counterparts have refused to admit, the situation is raising new concerns about the impact on victims of sex crimes.
“The concern for victims is really a hot potato situation where some provinces essentially don’t want to take cases,” said Megan McKenzie, a specialist in military sexual misconduct at Simon Fraser University. B.C
“Victims are going to be affected if there’s such back and forth between different authorities and potentially under resources and disputes over who should look after these matters.”
Charlotte Duval-Lantoin of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, whose book on military sexual misconduct was published last month, is concerned about victims who may have come forward simply because they thought their affairs would not be handled by the armed forces.
“It’s going to contribute to the re-traumatization of people who have waited decades to come forward.”
— With files from Global News
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