Status of Women Committee on April 13th, 2021

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Thank you for the question.

This was launched in 2018. We called it the sexual assault review program. It was as a result of articles that I believe came out in The Globe and Mail that unfounded sexual assault cases were regularly not coded properly by police services.

We looked at a model from an external review team to review our cases. We had 126 unfounded-coded sexual assault cases ranging from 2010 to 2018. We set up an external review team to review those cases independently. The members of the external review team were comprised of a victim advocate, a civilian prosecutor with experience in sexual assaults, a trauma-care nurse, a representative of the SMRC and also a representative of the RCMP.

Over the course of the review, the review team commented that the investigators developed very good rapport with the victims. That also validated for us the training that was proactively adopted by the NIS in 2016: trauma-informed interviewing.

Calling the external review team was a successful model for us, and it's a model that we can replicate when required.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you for elaborating on that.

Further to that, you mentioned that it's because they were not coded properly. Can you talk to us a little about the coding process and what it entails? Thank you.

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

I'm not an expert in those coding offences, but I'll try to speak broadly.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics has a system of coding offences. Following the unfounded cases reviewed by many police services, the CCJS reviewed how offences are coded. When police report statistics, there is a specific, uniform code report that needs to be assigned to every offence.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Okay, and there were errors when it came to recording that.

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

There was some general error, I think, from a misunderstanding at the time about what “unfounded” meant. That's what led to some cases being coded “unfounded”, but they were not really unfounded.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Okay.

Based on the internal review of 179 unfounded cases, 23 were identified for further investigation. What does the outcome of this review tell you about how these cases were being investigated to begin with?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

It's hard for me to get into specifics on the 23, but what it meant, when the external review came in, was that there were aspects, because of the coding, that needed further review.

We learned some valuable lessons, and we received some good advice from the external review team on policy development, training development and other advice on how to refine some of our processes, in particular in sexual assault investigations. We saw it as a learning experience and as a good opportunity to consult broadly with external experts on how to get better in our investigations.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

How does the secondary investigation process take place, and what are some of the updated criteria for investigations?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Could you clarify? I'm not sure I understand the question.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Of the 179 unfounded cases, for example, 23 were identified for further investigation. How did the secondary investigation process take place? What were some of the criteria to allow these 23 cases to be cited for further investigation and more clarification?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Thank you for the question.

I don't know the specifics, but certainly when they were recommended for further investigative processes, they would be assigned to an investigator who would do a complete review of the file and then address the elements that were perhaps found to require additional investigation. Then their investigation was reopened and completed as per CFNIS protocols.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

I have 30 seconds left. With this external review you said you got some productive advice and good feedback regarding the old procedure and the one that was reviewed. Can you please tell us a little bit about the biggest marked differences, in 15 seconds?

Thank you.

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

The biggest marked differences for us were certainly on the coding and making sure that we really used the right coding for the offences. Also, from a policy perspective, now any unfounded cases or final reports must be signed by the CO of that unit and reviewed by the CO, so there's extra quality control and oversight, let's say, into those cases that are coded as being unfounded.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That's excellent.

I will now give the floor to Ms. Larouche for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Brigadier-General Trudeau, for joining us today on this important study.

In the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we are trying to figure out how victims can receive more support. That is the goal of our study. From a more feminist point of view, it is a matter of determining how women can take their place in the army.

You talk about process, collaboration and communication. How does the armed forces ombudsman or the military police communicate with you as the provost marshal? How can the collaboration between you be established?

Can the ombudsman come to see you when he receives sexual misconduct complaints, for example?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Thank you for your question.

No official relationship exists between the ombudsman and my office, my position. However, like any other organization within the Armed Forces, the ombudsman could refer a complaint or elements of a complaint to the military police or to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, where elements of the complaint would be evaluated and where it would be determined whether an investigation is necessary.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

What kind of an evaluation are we talking about?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

When the military police or the National Investigation Service receives a complaint or any kind of an allegation, they determine whether the complaint or the information meets the threshold required to trigger a police investigation. That may not be the case.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

We are trying to understand what problems affect the sexual misconduct reporting process in the army.

Do you have anything else to add regarding that reporting process? For example, do people know where exactly to submit their complaints?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Thank you for your question.

As chief of police, I think it is very important for members of the Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence to know how to contact us and how to relay information. That is why many of our contacts are provided on the web. That information is easily accessible.

I talked about this at length, but I think it would be beneficial for my team and me to find ways to increase our communication efforts even more and to inform members of the defence community how to reach us, either to talk to us about their problems or to submit a complaint.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

A communication issue may be at play, as you just said.

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

I am sure that our information and the way to report are fairly well understood on the police side, but I feel that we could always improve.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Regarding the need to identify victims, what information do they have to reveal if they want to go further in the process and know where to submit their complaint, for instance?

[BGen Simon Trudeau]

Are you talking about a victim who would like to remain anonymous?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes.

Is it necessary for the victim to identify themselves to the Privy Council Office or another organization? What must they reveal? How far do they have to go?