Former Canadian Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour charges that Canada’s armed forces are riddled with “a deeply deficient culture” that has allowed sexual misconduct to fester, reports the Washington Post. Despite the federal government setting aside more than $700 million in 2019 for victims of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination in the Canadian Armed Forces and the defense department, significant changes have not materialized, and many of the same problems persist, Arbour said.
She called for future sexual misconduct allegations to be exclusively investigated and prosecuted by civilian authorities. The two main impediments to progress are the assumption that the crisis is “only attributable to a culture of misogyny” and that change will come over time with “more enlightened attitudes,” she wrote. Anita Anand, Canada’s defense minister, said she agreed with all of the “thoughtful” recommendations and would take immediate steps to implement 17 of them, including the appointment of an external monitor who would oversee the process.