ottawa –
Military personnel can now submit complaints about sexual misconduct, harassment and discrimination directly to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the government announced Tuesday.
The changes will apply to new and existing complaints and will allow military personnel to seek independent reviews before exhausting internal complaint processes.
Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor recommended changes to a May 2022 report into sexual misconduct and toxic culture within the military.
Last December, the government set out a plan to implement 48 recommendations in a report to parliament. Tuesday’s announcement mentions two of them.
“Modernizing the grievance process is a key element of the culture change effort,” the Pentagon said in a news release.
Arbor’s report found that between 2015 and 2021, only 42 complaints of gender-based discrimination were filed with the Human Rights Commission by military personnel.
He said the number may be so low because the agency must conduct a thorough internal complaint process before accepting complaints outside the agency.
Arbor said if the committee was given resources it would be able to deal with an “influx of cases” from the military.
Defense Minister Bill Blair said in a written statement on Tuesday that the government would halt its challenge to the human rights allegations because another process was underway, another of Arbor’s recommendations.
The Chair of the Human Rights Commission said he wholeheartedly supported all of her advice.
“The Commission looks forward to the implementation of these recommendations to ensure people have faster access to human rights justice,” Interim Chief Commissioner Charlotte-Anne Maliszewski said in a press release.
Complaints of non-gender-based harassment and discrimination will continue to be handled through internal military procedures.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2023.
