Anita Anand to lead fight against military misconduct as new defence minister

OTTAWA —
As the new minister of national defence, Anita Anand will be charged with restoring Canadians’ trust in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) after a series of high-profile sexual misconduct investigations that have left the institution in tatters.

Anand is replacing Harjit Sajjan, who has faced criticism for his handling of the investigations that have implicated high-ranking officers and been accused of failing to implement concrete steps to shift the military culture.

The Oakville MP is only the second woman to become defence minister. Kim Campbell held the post for six months in 1993.

Anand was first elected in 2019 and soon after moved into the front bench as public services and procurement minister, where she led Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategy.

Scott Reid, CTV News’ political commentator and former senior adviser to Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, says her appointment checks out given the task ahead.

“She has experience in matters of governance, experience in matters of administration, she’s their surest hand when it comes to management of government institutions and operations. That’s really what’s needed,” he told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.

In the spring, the federal government launched an independent review into harassment and sexual misconduct within the CAF, led by former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour.

The announcement of that review was slammed by survivor advocates and former military leaders who called it a stalling tactic by the Liberals after a similar independent review done in 2015 concluded the need for an independent reporting and accountability body.

Retired Maj.-Gen. Denis Thompson says it’s imperative the department get the issue of sexual misconduct under control.

“We definitely need all the qualified people we can get in order to address the concerns that have mounted around the world. We’re in a situation that’s fairly tenuous and we need to move through the culture issues and get on with some of the operational issues that face the Canadian Armed Forces,” he said on Tuesday.

Thompson added that retrieving the remaining Afghans who have been left behind in Afghanistan will also be a top priority for the new minister.

“We should take this opportunity to put our shoulder to the wheel and move as many of these people out as possible. That might require a high-level ministerial-level diplomatic mission to the region in order to sort out a third-country location where our Afghan friends can be evacuated,” he said.

On that file, Anand will be working with her colleagues, new Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser.

As part of the cabinet shakeup, Sajjan now becomes Minister of International Development and the minster responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada.

Leah West, assistant professor of international affairs at Carleton University, says Sajjan has to take responsibility for the government’s inaction to prevent misconduct and hold perpetrators to account.

“Leadership is incredibly important for setting the tone of the culture of an environment and minister Sajjan, for example, had the Marie Deschamps report on his desk in 2016 and made no real efforts to see the military implement any of her recommendations,” she said during an interview on CTV News Channel.

Flanked by his front bench, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Sajjan for his work in the portfolio on Tuesday in a subsequent press conference.

“Minister Sajjan has consistently been someone who has been there to fight for the women and men who serve in our Armed Forces and to push back against the culture that excludes, that marginalizes people and I thank him for his leadership and service there,” he said.

He then pivoted, welcoming the “minister of vaccines” to her new role.

“The women and men who serve in the Armed Forces deserve better support, deserve a shift in the kind of governance they have and one of the things people will be learning about Anita Anand in the coming months is she’s a world class expert in governance,” he said.

West said Anand is a “great choice.”

“Minister Anand has been a proven leader in a time of crisis…someone with the success of working through crisis is absolutely necessary now,” she said.