Harjit S. Sajjan

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, one thing I can assure you is that we took immediate action. The complaint was immediately passed on to the Privy Council Office, as I stated before, so that the Governor in Council appointment could be looked into, exactly the same process that the previous government had taken. I also announced today that we are creating a new internal organization that will be led by Lt. Gen. Jennie Carignan as the chief of professional conduct and culture. She will be tasked with unifying, integrating and coordinating all policies, programs and activities that currently address systemic misconduct and support a culture change across National Defence. We need to make sure that everyone who wants to come forward feels comfortable coming forward.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard from survivors. We have conducted round tables with experts. The announcement today was about taking action on what we have heard, immediate action when it comes to providing greater support and peer-to-peer support. There are the announcements that we made in budget 2021 and the actions we have taken with the external review. It is going to be much broader, to make sure that we have an independent process.

That is going to give confidence to the women in the Canadian Armed Forces to be able to come forward. We owe it to them. We need to get this right, and we will.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Armed Forces members make enormous sacrifices to protect Canadians, regardless of rank or gender. They have an undeniable right to serve with safety.

It is clear that we have not lived up to our responsibility to protect our members from misconduct. That is why we announced today that Madame Louise Arbour will lead an independent, external comprehensive review into harassment and sexual misconduct in DND-CAF. We also named Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan as the chief of professional conduct and culture.

These are just some of the first steps that we are taking. We know we have much more work to do, and we will get it done.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the member opposite wants to [Technical difficulty—Editor], but one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that our government is going to be focused on the survivors and a way ahead to make this better. This is why we have launched an external review. This is why we are [Technical difficulty—Editor] in place and making sure that our budget represents—

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to take strong action, and that is exactly what today's announcement was about.

As I stated before, in July 2015 when an investigation was going on, why did they appoint General Vance at that time? The member opposite was the parliamentary secretary of national defence at that time. Talk about knowing something and then still appointing somebody.

At the end of the day, we are going to be focused on survivors, and that is what our announcement was about today.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, since we are talking about 2015, when General Vance was appointed, the member opposite was parliamentary secretary of national defence at that time. We learned the troubling news yesterday that former Prime Minister Harper appointed General Vance in July 2015 even though he was under active investigation by CFNIS at that time. Now, did the member opposite also know, and what did he do at that time? Just days after the Conservatives appointed him, the investigation was suddenly dropped. According to an ATIP, the commanding officer said that he was under pressure, but by whom? Maybe it was the member opposite; we do not know.

The Leader of the Opposition said that he passed along sexual misconduct allegations about General Vance in July 2015, claiming they were looked into. How is this possible, if General Vance was appointed at the time and the investigation was suddenly—

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said from the beginning, I treat all cases of misconduct with the utmost seriousness and always followed all proper processes.

We saw the same process in 2015. Let us talk about 2015. The Harper Conservatives appointed General Vance while he had an active CFNIS investigation looking into him. Right after he was appointed, that investigation was suddenly dropped. Then the Leader of the Opposition passed along rumours of sexual misconduct that were supposedly looked into.

Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition knows more than what he has said so far.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we learned very troubling news yesterday, that former Prime Minister Harper appointed General Vance in 2015 even though he was under active investigation by CFNIS. Days after the Conservatives appointed him, the investigation was suddenly dropped. According to an ATIP, the commanding officer said that he was under pressure, but not from whom, at that time.

The Leader of the Opposition says he passed along the sexual misconduct allegations about General Vance in 2015, claiming those were looked into. How is this possible if General Vance was appointed at that time and the investigation was suddenly dropped?

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, our government has no tolerance for misconduct. We followed the proper process, the same one the previous government followed. The current leader of the official opposition was made aware of misconduct rumours in 2015. It was serious enough that he asked his staff to notify the Prime Minister's chief of staff, who then took it to the Privy Council Office for review. In other words, these are the same steps we are following.

Can the Leader of the Opposition seriously have his party stand here and decry that process, the same one that he took?

[National Defence, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin today by acknowledging the anniversary of the crash of Stalker 22 off the coast of Greece. One year ago today, we lost six Canadian Armed Forces members in the line of duty. They were dedicated to their work, passionate about serving Canada and beloved by their crew, families and community. Our thoughts are with the families today.

When it comes to sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, we are absolutely committed to root this out, and today's announcement was another step toward that.