Citing ‘institutional resistance,’ military police watchdog calls for broader powers

OTTAWA — Canada’s military police watchdog is calling on the federal government to change the law to give her office more teeth and greater ability to investigate complaints.

Military Police Complaints Commission chair Tammy Tremblay made the call for the third year in a row in her annual report, released on Tuesday.

She said her ability to do her work has been “significantly hampered” in recent years by inadequate investigative powers and “increasingly entrenched institutional resistance.”

The report said it is “troubling” that the oversight office is experiencing “persistent and worsening challenges,” such as delays and refusals to provide documents.

Tremblay’s report comes amid a rise in the number of military police conduct complaints, and after she launched the first public interest hearings in more than a decade to probe serious allegations of misconduct.

She wrote to Defence Minister David McGuinty last year to propose a series of legal reforms that would, among other things, give her broader subpoena powers to obtain information on cases. She made the same proposals to his predecessor, Bill Blair.

Tremblay met with McGuinty in March this year to make her case in person, but her office said she has not received a substantive response about the proposal.

The minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

The legislation governing her office hasn’t changed since it was first created in 1999.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.

Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press