Military has tried to transfer 62 sexual offence files to civilian police but half were rejected

Military police in Canada have tried to transfer 62 sexual assault cases to civilian police forces since last fall but about half of those files have been declined and sent back.

The Canadian Armed Forces released new figures in response to requests fromCBC News and the release of a blistering independent report onthe military's ongoing sexual misconduct crisis.

Canadian Armed Forces Provost Marshal Brig.-Gen. Simon Trudeau confirmed the military has attempted to transfer 49 new sexual offence cases to civilian police since November 2021. Police forces accepted22 of the filesand rejected 27.

Military police also attemptedto transfer 13 in-progress cases to civilian police;nine of those files are now being investigated and four cases were declined.

"The transfer and referral of cases raises a wide range of complex issues," wrote Trudeau in a statement about the figures, which were current as of May 30.

"Some agencies were not ready to accept investigations for reasons that reflect the diversity of law enforcement contexts in Canada."

Thefigures show the challenges the militaryfacesin trying to act on an interim recommendation by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour to transfermilitary sexual offence cases to civilian investigators.

On Monday, Arbour released a wide-ranging final report calling for the Canadian Forces to be stripped permanently of its power granted in 1998 to investigate and prosecute sexual offences among military members.

Arbour called forthe military to hand over sexual offence files to civiliansas part of her interim recommendations last fall recommendationsthat Defence Minister Anita Anand acceptedin November 2021.

Now, Arbour wants a permanent change that would involve revoking the military's jurisdiction so thatcivilian police services and courts exclusively handlemilitary sexual misconductcases. She saiditwould offer"more equity for victims."

Some civilian police forces resisting accepting cases

Arbour has raised serious concerns about the military being "keen to maintain" its jurisdiction. She also pointed outduring a press conference on Monday thatcivilian police forces"have already surprisingly, in my view, expressed in some cases some reluctance to exercise a jurisdiction that they currently have."

"Civilian police forces and prosecution authorities already have full jurisdiction to investigate sexual offences involving CAF members, including those occurring on defence property," said Arbour's report.

"While some external police forces were open to receiving files almost immediately, others refused to accept any files involving CAF members."

Arbour's report said that at the provincial level, some police chiefs associations and the OPP commission "joined the list of refusals."

TheB.C. Urban Mayors'Caucus sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Anand in January warning that"the civilian justice system is currently stretched beyond capacity from being on the front lines of combating the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police warnedthe province's solicitor general that taking on military sexual misconduct cases couldopen the door to a great many historical sexual offence claims, Arbour's report said.

WATCH: Louise Arbour discusses handing sexual offence files over to civilian police

Arbour discusses recommendation for civilian police control of military sexual misconduct cases

2 years ago

Duration 4:09

Former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour explains her reasons for recommending that civilian police be given permanent oversight of military sexual misconduct cases.

The group also said investigators would need to be trained in the military context and raised concerns about investigators' access to military documents, the report added.

The Association des directeurs de police du Qubec said it would be unable to accept any military files without approval from the province's minister of public security, Arbour wrote, whilethe British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police recommended that police services refuse toaccept militaryfiles until legal and procedural issues are sorted out.

RCMP started accepting cases in new year

Not all police forces resisted.

Anand said the RCMP started accepting the military's cases in January. Quebec's ministry of public safety has been advising the province'spolice forces to accept new files since February. Several local police forces have also accepted cases on an ad hoc basis, said Anand. Winnipeg and Thunder Bay police services, along with the NottawasagaOPP, are three examples named in Arbour's report.

"We have made substantive progress in the referral of investigations to civilian police services,"Anand said in a statement to CBC News Thursday.

"As Madame Arbour outlines in her report, there have been challenges with certain jurisdictions. To this end, I am writing again to provincial and territorial partners this week about the path forward."

Anand said she plans to set up an intergovernmental body to handle the transfer of cases. Arbour has said that shouldn't be necessary.

WATCH: Defence Minister Anita Anand reacts toLouise Arbour's report

Anand reacts to report on Canadian military

2 years ago

Duration 1:23

National Defence Minister Anita Anand says she accepts the recommendations in a report by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour on the Canadian military.

Arbour estimates in her report that taking on military files would leave civilian police forcesin most provinces and territories with onlyabout 20 additional sexual assault investigations per year, based on military statistics from 2016-2021.Ontario is the exception; Arbour's report said police services in that province couldhave to take onabout 70 cases per year.

Arbour also saidshe estimates roughly only 30 sexual misconduct casesare tried in the military judicial system across the country each year.Civilian courts process more than 2,300 sexual offence cases per year, shesaid.

"We're talking30 cases a yearacross the country, seriously," Arbour said at Monday's press conference.

Arbour pointed to the example of impaired driving cases. She said that while the military and civilian authorities both have jurisdiction over these cases, the military is "happy to let the civilians" handle them.

Dalhousie University's Elaine Craig is an expert in sexual assault law and conducts research on the Canadian military judicial system. She said she finds it "very troubling" that civilian police forces have rejected so many military files.

"I think it is important to emphasize that the civilian system has had full jurisdiction all along," said Craig.

"It seems to me that the civilian police forces who are accepting these cases ... are doing their job and those that are refusing them, angling for more money or task forces or whatnot, are failing to meet their responsibilities. And, frankly, failing these survivors."

Expert calls for changes to National Defence Act

Longtime military law expert and retired colonel Michel Drapeauargues the only way real change will happen is if thegovernment amends Section 70 of the National Defence Act to ban the military from prosecuting sexual offences.

Drapeau said that as long as the military retains jurisdiction in law, civilian authorities have the option of saying no and refusing cases.

"The only way to ensure it's done 100 per cent is to amend Section 70 and return sexual assault as one of the offences for which the military doesn't have jurisdiction,"Drapeau said. "It's as simple as that."

Section 70 states the military cannot try military members charged with murder, manslaughter and a series of other offences.

Anand called Arbour'srequest to permanently transfer cases to civilians a"system-changing recommendation" that the government would examine "in earnest" while the interim measure is in place.

"I am writing again to provincial and territorial partners this week about the pathforward.I am resolutely committed to ensuring that those who have experienced sexual misconduct receive the support that they deserve," said Anand.

The Canadian Forces Provost Marshal saidthat military police arecurrently transferring cases to civilians in a "deliberate and carefully planned manner" and that the"primary concern is victim support throughout the process."

"Our aim is that civilian police services investigate all criminal sexual offences alleged to have been committed by a CAF member on which they have jurisdiction," wrote Brig.-Gen. Trudeau in a statement.