Military sexual misconduct complaints can now go to human rights commission

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces who experience sexual misconduct or harassment can now file a complaint directly with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) if they choose to.

Defence Minister Bill Blair says the announcement takes immediate effect and applies to both new and existing complaints. The minister adds that this is in following with recommendations seven and nine in the external review of the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) handling of sexual misconduct, led by former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour.

That review was spurred by months of exclusive Global News reporting into allegations of sexual misconduct against senior military leaders starting in February 2021.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to implementing meaningful and transformative change. This new pathway to justice will better support our people in uniform and provide them with the procedural fairness that they deserve,” Blair said in a statement.

Now, military members have two avenues to file sexual harassment or sex/gender discrimination complaints – either the internal military grievance and harassment processes or directly with the CHRC. Canadian Forces members who take the latter route will no longer have to exhaust the internal grievance process first.

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“We are making substantial and concrete progress on evolving DND/CAF culture across the organization. With today’s announcement, we are ensuring that our members have more options when it comes to reporting incidents and filing complaints related to sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis of sex,” Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said in a statement.

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“Change takes time but we are seeing encouraging progress on many fronts, and we will continue with this important work to create a better workplace for all our members.”

CHRC interim chief commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski says she welcomes the change and hopes it can help complainants quickly access justice.

Additionally, the Canadian military will no longer file objections to member complaints around sexual misconduct, harassment or discrimination being sent directly to the CHRC.

All other harassment complaints are still expected to go through the regular CAF grievance and harassment processes.