(Ottawa) Changes to policies and procedures within the Canadian Army are well underway, but represent a long and labor-intensive process, says Jocelyne Therrien, the external observer overseeing implementation efforts . implement these changes. His recently released second report to government says there is an “impressive array of rules and regulations” and a “wide range of policy instruments” that govern the Canadian Armed Forces.

“I am told that they can sometimes contradict each other,” writes Mr.^Me Therrien in his report of November 7, published Monday.

“As a result, even relatively simple policy changes can require many months of work by many people,” she describes.

In his first report last spring, M^Me Therrien had called for the creation of a multi-year plan to track the progress of military efforts to implement culture change.

She said the Army’s chief of professional conduct and culture, Lt. Gen. Jennie Carignan, developed such a plan this summer. This has not been made public.

“It is extremely important that the plan indicates that it will measure and report on results rather than the completion of activities,” Mr.^Me Thérrien.

Review the definition of sexual assault

M^Me Therrien said the highest levels of the military are clearly working to address the problem of sexual misconduct.

However, it is a long process.

Amendments to abolish the use of a military definition of sexual assault and use a standardized definition of sexual assault in the Criminal Code will be “ready for approval” by the end of 2023, said Mr.^Me Thérrien.

The move is part of an ongoing effort to address the 48 recommendations made by former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor in a scathing May 2022 report on military culture.

But updating the ministerial directive which uses these definitions “involves more process”.

And it will take until the end of 2024 to update armed forces policy to use the Canada Labor Code’s definition of harassment, she said.

The Arbor report also called on the federal government to strip the military of jurisdiction over all sexual offenses under the Criminal Code — something Defense Secretary Bill Blair said Monday.

But when asked when that change would come, Blair was less sure.

“I will propose a legislative solution to this problem in the coming months, and if possible before the end of this year,” he told reporters.

The government accepted a preliminary recommendation from M^Me Arbor aimed in November 2021 to refer these offenses to civil authorities.

Since then, 275 cases have been reported to the military police. M^Me Therrien said 142 of them were transferred to civil police, who accepted 101 cases and refused 41 others. Dismissed cases were investigated either by the National Investigation Service of the Norwegian Armed Forces or by the military police.

The report indicates that the 133 cases that were not referred to civilian police fell into several categories: incidents that occurred outside of Canada, victims who did not wish to continue the investigation or victims who wished to pursue their approach in the military justice system.

Blair said he did not think this was consistent with the spirit of his recommendation.^Me Arbor to allow the military justice system to continue hearing cases.

“To be honest, we want all these cases to be investigated by the relevant police and tried by the civil criminal justice system,” he said. That’s why we’re changing the law. »