Madam Chair, in order to be able to understand the problem of sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, we must also examine the importance of Operation HONOUR in the CAF. So I will deal with the matter of sexual assault in the CAF.

As Maya Eichler points out:

Despite the sexual assault scandals that hit the CAF over the past two decades, the problem of sexualized violence remained largely unacknowledged by the CAF prior to 2014. In 2014, articles in Maclean's and L'actualité forcefully brought the issue of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military to the forefront. Based on interviews with women who had experienced sexual assault while serving…[the articles revealed] the lack of concerted action on the part of the military despite formal procedures undertaken by the complainants. The reports showed that sexual assault and sexual harassment were persistent problems within the forces. [Published in 2015], the “External Review into Sexual Misconduct into the Canadian Armed Forces” (the Deschamps Report) changed the nature of the debate on sexual violence in the Canadian military. The report documented a sexualized military culture hostile towards female and LGBTQ members that increases the risk of “more serious incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault”. The findings of the report have busted the myth of the gender-neutral military and confirmed much of what earlier feminist analyses had shown in regard to the CAF and other militaries.

As a committee, we here can change that with our recommendations, and with a government response to them. Maya Eichler continues:

For example, research found sexual harassment to be commonplace, especially in combat roles. Justice Deschamps explicitly linked the military's sexualized culture to the challenges surrounding women's integration and their low representation in the leadership of the CAF. She argued that increasing women's representation, especially among the senior leadership, is one of the key strategies for achieving cultural change. Giving strength to this argument, Deschamps referenced sociological research that shows that “the ideal of the combat male warrior concept has impacted on the integration of women into the military”. The military's reaction to the Deschamps Report has been mixed, and has wavered between welcoming and rejecting the findings. On the one hand, efforts to address the recommendations of the Deschamps Report and change the military's sexualized culture were swift and are ongoing.

As a committee, we here can change that with our recommendations, and with a government response to them. We must make sure that the testimonies have not been in vain. As the minister said, all options are on the table.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yves Robillard

$408,751.00