Today, Defence Minister Anita Anand released the first biannual status report authored by External Monitor, Jocelyne Therrien. The report provides an external overview of work underway at the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) to implement the recommendations made by former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour in the Independent External Comprehensive Review (IECR), released in May 2022.
Jocelyne Therrien was appointed as External Monitor by Minister Anand in fall 2022, fulfilling Recommendation 48 of the IECR report. Mme Therrien's role is to provide advice to the Minister in the oversight and implementation of the recommendations in the IECR report, and potentially those of other external reviews.
In this report, Mme Therrien provides an overview of the implementation of recommendations under three themes: prevention; support to affected persons; and input and oversight. She also identifies areas that she will review more in-depth over the next six months. As Mme Therrien notes in the report's conclusion, there is "a significant level of tangible activity within National Defence as it responds to the hundreds of recommendations from external reviews on sexual misconduct in CAF ranks."
In addition to reporting on the work to implement recommendations contained in the IECR report, Mme Therrien highlights other initiatives currently underway that promote positive culture change and contribute to "moving the needle forward", including the creation of the Chief Professional Conduct and Culture in 2021 that is "making a difference."
The External Monitor's mandate includes delivering progress reports to the Minister of National Defence relating to the implementation of the IECR recommendations, as well as a publicly releasable progress report every six months on the work being done by the DND/CAF to address sexual misconduct and harassment.
In a statement, Minister Anand welcomed this first status report and thanked Mme Therrien for her meticulous advice and oversight to provide external accountability to DND/CAF. The report is an important step to provide Canadians with updates regarding the implementation of Mme Arbour's recommendations, and regular reports on an ongoing basis will help to ensure that DND/CAF deliver meaningful reforms to strengthen, grow, and improve the institution.
