EDITORIAL: Ending sexual misconduct in Canada’s military

Defence Minister Anita Anand’s announcement Thursday that the Trudeau government has agreed to turn over criminal allegations of sexual misconduct in the military to civilian authorities is welcome news, but it raises a number of questions.

The first is why did it take the government so long to act?

The principle of involving civilian authorities in cases of alleged criminal sexual misconduct in the military was initially raised six years ago by Marie Deschamps, the first of three retired Supreme Court of Canada judges to investigate the issue, who all came to similar conclusions.

Anand is acting on an interim recommendation of retired Supreme Court judge Louise Arbour, who is conducting an ongoing examination of the military.

Perhaps the reason was that the prime minister’s office itself proved to be incapable of doing the job.

That’s said, what’s done is done.

The question now becomes whether the hand-off of criminal allegations of sexual misconduct in the military will be permanent or temporary, which wasn’t clear from Anand’s announcement.

Common sense would dictate that it be permanent, given that no organization should be allowed to investigate and judge itself when allegations of sexual assault are involved.

In addition, making an announcement isn’t the same as implementing it.

Turning over criminal allegations of sexual misconduct now being investigated by military police and investigators will be a complicated process involving provincial as well as federal justice authorities.