REALITY CHECK: Liberal inaction on the Deschamps Report

The External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces, known as the Deschamps Report, was released March 27, 2015. It outlined the problem of sexual misconduct and harassment in the armed forces and included actionable recommendationsfor the federal government to take.

How has this report been acted on?

"I think that as little was done as possible to make it look like the report had been responded to without any real change. No structural change, no legislative change, no outside the department, outside the Canadian Armed Forces reporting — those kinds of things that Madame Deschamps emphasized." - Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister for the Department of National Defence, CBC, May 25, 2021

Instead of acting on the recommendations of the 2015 Deschamps Report, Minister of Defence, Harjit Sajjan, has announced another review of sexual misconduct in Canadian military.

It has been 2251 days since the Deschamps Report was released. Harjit Sajjan has been Minister of Defence for 2029 days—90 per cent of the time the Deschamps report, and it’s recommendations, have been made public.

To put it simply:

“Announcements don’t make change. Our actions do,” National Post, Apr 29, 2021

Canadians deserve better.