Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise as the humble servant of the constituents of Edmonton East to contribute to this debate on Bill C-25, an act to amend the National Defence Act. I also contribute to this debate in my capacity as official opposition critic for veterans affairs.
Some commentators have remarked that there does not appear to have been that much of significance on the legislative agenda during this parliamentary term. The debate on this bill demonstrates how commentators can easily be off the mark. Bill C-25 is a most important piece of legislation. Through this bill the most extensive set of amendments to the National Defence Act since its enactment in 1950 are proposed.
As discussed by the Minister of National Defence in the House last March, the government intends by this bill to implement approximately 80% of the recommendations of the Somalia inquiry, an inquiry cut short by this government.
This bill appears to be in part a government response to conflicts of interest in the military justice system identified in inquiries into the conduct of our troops in Somalia and Bosnia. It also appears to be an attempt to address the perceived discriminatory treatment of wrongdoing in the military. The higher the rank of an accused, the less it is perceived that justice will be administered fairly or that punishment will be rendered equitably.
I enter into this debate as a parliamentarian with a military background. From 1962 to 1965 I served with the military police in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Some might argue that the justice system for the military should be no different than the justice system for Canadian civilians. Some might question why there is a separate justice system for the military; should the administration of the criminal justice system not be the same across provinces and across groups? Some might argue that the military is no different from any other self-governing profession where matters of professional misconduct are addressed internally but where criminal matters are addressed through a civilian court system.
My opinion is that a separate military justice system is important and should be preserved. One reason for this is that many of our most notorious cases in the military have related to events occurring while on service outside Canada. It is far more efficient for such wrongdoings to be addressed through the Canadian military justice system than it would be to seek justice in circumstances of international jurisdictional disputes.
As stated by the Minister of National Defence during the course of his remarks on this bill, “by tradition there is a separate military justice system because of the nature of dealing with matters swiftly—it is necessary to have a portable system. What we are attempting to do is to bring it as close as possible to the civilian system”.
My colleagues and I are very supportive of improvements to the system of justice in the military. At the same time we will be opposing this bill. A primary reason for our opposition is that we question whether this legislation is more akin to window dressing rather than involving substantive changes to the military justice system. We question whether the legislation will achieve the government's objective of approximately paralleling the civilian justice system particularly in terms of increased bureaucracy.
We are all mindful of serious problems in the military particularly relating to troop morale and generalized sentiments that the higher the rank, the easier it is to transgress.
The appointment of an ombudsman to address these concerns may do little to change matters. The appointee is after all André Marin, son of Judge René Marin, a Liberal judicial appointee. Throughout any process to improve our military there must be a lack of political bias, both in appearance and in fact. It has been reported that André Marin was appointed at the personal insistence of the defence minister and over the objection of others who believed there were more suitable candidates.
I am not in any way impugning the competency of Mr. Marin. I find it interesting and of course purely coincidental that his appointment was announced two days before the final debate on the bill.
Why is any issue of bias in appearance or in fact in the assessment of military procedure important? It is because the memories of the Liberal shutdown of the Somalia inquiry are quite recent. As may be recalled, that shutdown occurred as the inquiry was about to investigate the involvement of the Liberal government in the Somalia affair. To the extent that Bill C-25 may be viewed as an attempt by the government to counter criticisms of its shutdown of the Somalia inquiry, the bill may be viewed as a vain attempt to deflect concern.
In the absence of clearly unbiased processes throughout, unbiased in fact or in appearance, the government may still be viewed as permitting a culture of secrecy, cover-up and intimidation to continue unchecked in the military. The government may also be viewed as ratifying the behaviours and attitudes of senior military officials who are not held accountable for their roles in important mistakes and scandals. Invariably, subordinates are the ones who end up being blamed for the mistakes of their superiors.
I now wish to address certain particulars of the bill, particularly as they relate to the military police. If one accepts as I do that a separate system of military justice is necessary, then a separate military police force becomes equally necessary. If one accepts as I do that such a military system of justice should not significantly vary from the system of justice governing civilians, then a separate regulatory regime for the military police becomes necessary.
In furtherance of a recommendation from the Somalia inquiry, a military police code of conduct is authorized by Bill C-25. In addition, processes are established for complaints by or against the military police. These processes for complaints against military police parallel those in civilian life. There is to be an independent military police complaints commission to address what is referred to as conduct complaints. On the other hand, when military police have concerns that investigations have been interfered with, they too can complain to the complaints commission. This is called an interference complaint.
An interference complaint may be made by a member of the military police who conducted or supervised an investigation and who reasonably believes that a member of the Canadian forces or a senior official at the Department of National Defence had improperly interfered with that investigation.
This puts military police on a different footing from civilian police. There is a charge in criminal law called obstruction of justice. Police do not have to go before a police commission to have such a charge reviewed. The charge may simply be laid based on the facts.
Being charged with obstruction of justice should not depend on where one is positioned in the national defence hierarchy. I believe the military police should have similar powers to those available to civilian police. By placing a commission between the facts and any charges, the government perpetuates the image of bias in the assessment of obstruction of justice charges. This is particularly so since the commission has the power to discontinue an investigation. This is one of the very failings within the military that is identified in the Somalia inquiry and elsewhere.
There is a pervasive impression that justice can be obstructed within the military depending on the rank of the accused or in circumstances where the military perceives itself to be under attack by an organization. All legislative initiatives should be with a view to eliminating any impression that such obstructions of justice could occur or continue within the military. I do not believe this legislation accomplishes this.
On a more positive note, the possibility of a stay of proceedings by a commanding officer who may not be a lawyer is finally eliminated. There is a clear appearance of bias when criminal justice proceedings may be stayed by someone who has a vested interest in the outcome.
Within the constraints of my time, I wish the Hansard record to show that my main reservation with this bill is that bias in appearance or in fact in the military is not eliminated by it. While the bill is an ambitious first start toward reform of the military justice system, there is clearly much work to be done and in the case of this bill much more legislative drafting to be done. I urge my colleagues to vote against Bill C-25.
