James Bezan

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, May 4th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence admitted at committee that he took an old bill, Bill C-66, and brought it back to the current Parliament as Bill C-11. He never talked to anybody in the veterans community. He did not reach out and talk to members in the justice system within CAF. He never talked to anyone at the provincial level about the problems they are having in carrying on these prosecutions.

If he had listened to veterans, and read the testimony that appeared in committee, they would have told him that they do not have faith in the civilian system, especially for low-level sexual misconduct; that they are going to be dismissed; and that there is then no recourse within the military system for any sort of administrative or disciplinary measures against those offenders. If he had been listening, he would have heard from police stations and police organizations across the country, as well as lawyers, saying to give victims the choice, so that they could choose which system they believe they are most comfortable in, whether it was the military system or the civilian system.

If he listened to his own members of the Canadian Armed Forces, like the director of military prosecutions, like the director of defence counsel services, like the provost marshal general of the Canadian Armed Forces, they would have told him that they are all now at a better place, five years since the Arbour report, to actually bring in the changes that are needed to do what is right.

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, May 4th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, it is disgusting to see the government actually using closure to shut down debate on such a serious issue, sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces. It is disgusting that it is taking away the voice of veterans, of people who are surviving military sexual trauma, and not listening to the amendments being brought forward on Bill C-11.

I do not know why the government is in a hurry on this. We brought it through committee in a relatively organized manner. We had cross-party support from the Bloc, the Conservatives and the NDP to make amendments based on the testimony we heard at committee, and now the government wants to ignore all that, shut down debate and use its sneaky majority to stifle democracy right here.

Why is the minister ignoring veterans and survivors of military sexual trauma and not making sure they have a choice in what justice system they want to use, whether it is the military justice system or the civilian system?

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for his service to Canada and the Royal Canadian Navy and his great work in standing up for victims.

I first met the member's wife, Angel, who has also been a strong advocate of fighting for the survivors of military sexual trauma, when I was doing town halls across this country on military injuries, including military sexual trauma. Ever since then, she has been fighting for justice.

After all of the committee hearings, the member and I and many others here have talked to veterans and current serving members across the country, and, particularly, the brave witnesses who stepped up at the national defence committee to look at Bill C-11 and lay out all their experiences. By the Liberals rejecting their testimony today in this debate, will that revictimize them knowing that the Liberals are brushing everything off?

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke, who has been a long-time member of the defence committee. She has heard from more veterans, I am sure, than Justice Arbour did in her hearings several years ago. There is a base in the member's riding, and she is always advocating on behalf of members who serve, including the victims of military sexual misconduct and military sexual assault. The member has fought long and hard for victims and for the rights of women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.

We heard from many victims. Christine Wood said she “opposed the transfer of all cases to civilian court, and that was for three reasons: number one, it's broken; number two, it offers victims no choice; and number three, I believe the CAF has to maintain control over its jurisdiction and demonstrate it can be responsible for fixing its own harms.”

A veteran who served, who experienced sexual misconduct and deals with military sexual trauma, is saying she needs choice. Other victims have said the exact same thing. Why will the Liberals not listen?

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to hear the Liberals use the Arbour report as their shield in why they are gutting all the amendments that were made by the defence committee, some of which were even supported by the Liberals, where we worked across party lines as Conservatives, Bloc members and the NDP.

Much has changed since the Arbour report came out. We know that at the time, there was a mandatory duty to report; the military police and health care providers were not fully ready or trained, but now they are; military members were not under the victims' rights charter, but now that charter is in effect; military members did not have access to a fully mature SMSRC for supports; military members did not have access to independent legal supports; and finally, military members did not have access to victims' liaison services. All those things are in place now.

The Canadian Armed Forces has changed, so why not give the rights back to victims so they can choose what system best suits their need, regardless of their rank or where they are, whether in or outside Canada, on training, on base or in the community?

They should have the supports they are asking for, not what the Liberals are shoving down their throats.

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles for his service to Canada as a veteran, as a former commanding officer, whose family, his own son, is in the Royal Canadian Navy.

My colleague talks about what we heard in testimony from those witnesses. There are more experts on military justice than just the one or two or three justices who have filed reports to the Department of National Defence and to ministers of national defence over the last 12 years. Some of them we heard from in testimony, such as the former director of military prosecutions, retired Colonel Bruce MacGregor, who said, “Taking the choice away from an informed victim is paternalistic and a further disenfranchisement of a victim who has already been rendered powerless by the perpetrator.”

Does my colleague believe that what the Liberals are doing, by not listening to the victims and not keeping in place the amendments that multiple parties made together to improve Bill C-11, is again going to empower the perpetrators and undermine the freedom of the victim?

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, we always have the same indignation coming from the member for Winnipeg North. He wants to talk about marginalization. He is marginalizing victims because he is not paying attention to what they actually said at the national defence committee in their testimony. They bravely stood in front of the committee, shared their experiences and demanded to have more freedom regarding which justice system they were able to get charges prosecuted under and move forward with.

The member talks about Madam Arbour. We thank her for her report, which includes the 48 recommendations. However, the current government, for 11 years, sat on the report from Madam Justice Deschamps without touching it or lifting it. The Liberals never even dusted it off as it sat in the corner of the desk of defence ministers, going back to former Minister Sajjan back in the day. If they had acted upon that, we may not be in this situation now.

The director of military prosecutions said if it were not for the directive coming from the government, he would have rescinded the orders and gone back to a concurrent system.

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and friend from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton for his hard work on Bill C-11 at committee, bringing in witnesses and listening to them. We worked across party lines to get the best possible amendments to this bill that listen to victims.

The member talked about how the Liberals have now stolen their majority in a very sneaky way by getting floor crossers. Can he talk to the fact that now the Liberals get to ignore what the victims actually said at committee, and why they would do that when this is actually in the best interest of the Canadian Armed Forces and those survivors?

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for his hard work on this file as well. As a veteran, he has always been there to champion people who have experienced military sexual misconduct.

We heard from the Victoria Police Department that it does not have the resources or the number of investigators needed, that it is already dealing with a backlog and that it has been offered no support and no resources from the federal government. We also received a written brief from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which “strongly recommends maintaining concurrent jurisdiction” and says, “The proposed provisions in Bill C-11 would significantly hinder collaboration between civilian police agencies and the Canadian Armed Forces Military Police”.

Instead of having the ability to collaborate with our military police and national investigative service, they now have to go on base and take over all those investigations, without resources provided by the government.

[Military Justice System Modernization Act, April 23rd, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, the key pieces of the bill that we have to maintain are clause 7 and clause 8 as the bill came back from committee and report stage. Those clauses would instill and enshrine the rights of choice for victims of military sexual misconduct and military sexual assault. Those choices, especially as they fall under the definition of sexual assault in the Criminal Code, would need to be dealt with in both systems.

With regard to what clause 7 and clause 8 would do now, with the amendments brought forward by the Minister of National Defence, the minister would be taking away all authority and all investigative and prosecutorial powers from the military and giving them solely to civilian courts and civilian police forces. That is a travesty, and it ignores the rights of the victims.