Launch of the New Arbour Report Card
In May 2022, after a year-long review, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour released her independent report that looked into harassment and sexual misconduct in the Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). This report was published at the end of a three-year period that has been described as a cultural crisis and watershed moment for the CAF. During this period, the DND settled a class action lawsuit for nearly $900,000CAD that saw over 20,000 historical victims come forward with allegations of harassment or misconduct. The CAF has also had 13 senior leaders, including two chiefs of defence staff, face allegations of sexual misconduct.
While it is exciting that Minister of Defence Anita Anand has accepted all of the 48 recommendations and declared that the Arbour Report would act as a roadmap for cultural change, there is a long history of the CAF and DND calling for reviews and ultimately failing to implement the recommendations.
When asked to reflect on the outcome of her 2015 review of military culture, Justice Deshamps declared that many of her recommendations were “gathering dust.”
To increase transparency, accessibility, and accountability, Dr. Megan Mackenzie and her research team have created a report card to track progress on the implementation of the 48 recommendations made by Justice Arbour. We are calling this the Arbour Report Card. The goals of this project are: 1) make the report card accessible by summarizing the recommendations in plain language; 2) provide regular, transparent assessments of the implementation status of the recommendations; 3) encourage accountability and measure action related to an issue that has historically ‘fallen off the radar’ in the absence of immediate scandal.
Each of the 48 recommendations have been summarized in plain language. A ‘grade’ is attached to each recommendation based on the action (or lack of action) taken. The report card is updated monthly.
Each recommendation is given one of four possible statuses:
Not started
Proposed
Underway
Complete
Assessment is based on publicly available information on current progress and plans. Note that we grade a recommendation as ‘not started’ if further reviews are called.
Final grades are assessed based on the following:
A= 90% of recommendations implemented
B= 80-89% of recommendations implemented
C= 70-79% of recommendations implemented
D= 60-69% of changes implemented
F= less than 60% of recommendations implemented
Here is the current report card:
It should be noted that although there are 28 recommendations underway, most of these do not have clear timelines for completion. Also, most of the recommendations in the Arbour Report have been made in previous reviews and reports, including the review done by Justice Deshamps in 2015. Although most recommendations have been made in past reviews, DND and the CAF have called for further administrative reviews, further research, working groups, and the development of more guidance related to many recommendations. This calls into question the ability to implement these recommendations in a timely manner and raises concerns about the use of resources to re-review issues that have been reviewed multiple times and the potential that such reviews delay tangible action.
Accountability and transparency is essential to ensuring ongoing commitment to this issue and that the current ‘watershed moment’ and the reviews and recommendations lead to lasting change for victims and service members.