OTTAWA —
As the brand new minister of nationwide defence, Anita Anand will likely be charged with restoring Canadians’ belief within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) after a collection of high-profile sexual misconduct investigations which have left the establishment in tatters.
Anand is changing Harjit Sajjan, who has confronted criticism for his dealing with of the investigations which have implicated high-ranking officers and been accused of failing to implement concrete steps to shift the army tradition.
The Oakville MP is barely the second girl to develop into defence minister. Kim Campbell held the submit for six months in 1993.
Anand was first elected in 2019 and shortly after moved into the entrance bench as public companies and procurement minister, the place she led Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement technique.
Scott Reid, CTV Information’ political commentator and former senior adviser to Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, says her appointment checks out given the duty forward.
“She has expertise in issues of governance, expertise in issues of administration, she’s their surest hand on the subject of administration of presidency establishments and operations. That’s actually what’s wanted,” he advised CTV Information Channel on Tuesday.
Within the spring, the federal authorities launched an unbiased evaluation into harassment and sexual misconduct inside the CAF, led by former Supreme Court docket Justice Louise Arbour.
The announcement of that evaluation was slammed by survivor advocates and former army leaders who referred to as it a stalling tactic by the Liberals after an analogous unbiased evaluation achieved in 2015 concluded the necessity for an unbiased reporting and accountability physique.
Retired Maj.-Gen. Denis Thompson says it’s crucial the division get the problem of sexual misconduct beneath management.
“We positively want all of the certified individuals we will get with a view to tackle the issues which have mounted around the globe. We’re in a scenario that’s pretty tenuous and we have to transfer by the tradition points and get on with a few of the operational points that face the Canadian Armed Forces,” he mentioned on Tuesday.
Thompson added that retrieving the remaining Afghans who’ve been left behind in Afghanistan may even be a prime precedence for the brand new minister.
“We should always take this chance to place our shoulder to the wheel and transfer as many of those individuals out as potential. That may require a high-level ministerial-level diplomatic mission to the area with a view to kind out a third-country location the place our Afghan pals may be evacuated,” he mentioned.
On that file, Anand will likely be working along with her colleagues, new Minister of International Affairs Melanie Joly and new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser.
As a part of the the cupboard shakeup, Sajjan now turns into Minister of Worldwide Improvement and the minster chargeable for the Pacific Financial Improvement Company of Canada.
