ENGLISH
• SUMMARY
SUMMARY
• 1 Short Title
1 Short Title
• 2 Interpretation
2 Interpretation
• 3 National Framework for the Recognition of Wartime Service
3 National Framework for the Recognition of Wartime Service
• 4 Reports to Parliament
4 Reports to Parliament
• 6 Designation of Wartime Service
6 Designation of Wartime Service
• 8 Coming into Force
8 Coming into Force

SUMMARY

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Wartime Service Recognition Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

Canadian Armed Forces means the armed forces referred to in section 14 of the National Defence Act. (Forces armées canadiennes)

member means an officer or a non-commissioned member of the Canadian Armed Forces as those terms are defined in subsection 2(1) of the National Defence Act. (militaire)

Minister means the Minister of National Defence.‍ (ministre)

national framework means the National Framework for the Recognition of Wartime Service. (cadre national)

veteran means a former member. (vétéran)

wartime service means military service by a member or veteran that is designated under section 6. (service en temps de guerre)

National Framework for the Recognition of Wartime Service

National framework

3 (1) The Minister must develop a national framework.

Purpose

(2) The purpose of the national framework is to provide an accountable and publicly transparent process for the fair and meaningful symbolic and commemorative recognition of wartime service, based on the conditions of members’ and veterans’ military service and on respect for their sacrifices.

Content

(3) The national framework must include

• (a) objective criteria for designating military service as wartime service;

• (b) fair and meaningful symbolic and commemorative measures to recognize wartime service; and

• (c) measures to recognize non–Canadian Armed Forces personnel who have served alongside or in support of a Canadian Armed Forces operation.

Criteria — wartime service

(4) The objective criteria developed under paragraph (3)‍(a) must consider the conditions in which military service was performed, including

• (a) the level of risk that members and veterans faced during their service, including exposure to hostile or life-threatening conditions;

• (b) the nature, rhythm, duration, scale and intensity of the operations members and veterans carried out during their service;

• (c) the exposure of members and veterans to conditions capable of causing physical or psychological injury during their service; and

• (d) the existence of an international or non-international armed conflict in the geographic location where the member or veteran served, regardless of a declared state of war.

Objective criteria — label or description

(5) The objective criteria developed under paragraph (3)‍(a) may not consider the formal label or description applied to military service at the time it was performed.

Consultations — national framework

(6) To develop the national framework, the Minister must consult with

• (a) the Minister of Veterans Affairs;

• (b) veterans and representatives of groups that advocate on behalf of veterans;

• (c) non–Canadian Armed Forces personnel or former personnel who have served alongside or in support of a Canadian Armed Forces operation, or representatives of groups that advocate on their behalf;

• (d) persons with recognized expertise in military history or other relevant expertise; and

• (e) any other person or entity that the Minister considers appropriate.

Reports to Parliament

Tabling — national framework

4 (1) Within one year after the day on which this Act comes into force, the Minister must prepare a report setting out the national framework and cause it to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the report is completed.

Summary of consultations

(2) The report must include a summary of the views received during the consultations referred to in subsection 3(6) and explain how those views were considered in the development of the national framework.

Publication

(3) The Minister must publish the report on the Department of National Defence website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in Parliament.

Report

5 (1) Within 5 years after the day on which the national framework is tabled in Parliament, and every 10 years after that, the Minister must prepare a report setting out

• (a) the measures from the national framework that have been implemented and their effectiveness in providing fair and meaningful symbolic and commemorative recognition of wartime service;

• (b) with respect to any measure included in the national framework that has not been implemented, the reason it has not been implemented and the timeline for implementing the measure;

• (c) any new measures taken by the Minister that are consistent with the goals of the national framework; and

• (d) a list of the objective criteria for designating military service as wartime service.

Objective criteria — consultations

(2) In the report prepared under subsection (1), the Minister may add or remove objective criteria for designating military service as wartime service under the national framework after consulting with the persons and entities referred to in subsection 3(6).

Tabling in Parliament

(3) The Minister must cause the report to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the report is completed.

Publication

(4) The Minister must publish the report on the Department of National Defence website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in Parliament.

Designation of Wartime Service

Designation of wartime service

6 (1) On the Minister’s recommendation, the Governor in Council must, by order, designate military service as wartime service.

First designation of wartime service

(2) Within 180 days after the day on which the national framework is tabled in Parliament,

• (a) the Minister must

  • (i) conduct a review of all Canadian Armed Forces operations carried out between July 27, 1953, and the tabling of the national framework, and

  • (ii) recommend to the Governor in Council that it designate military service in those operations as wartime service if the service meets the objective criteria set out in the national framework; and

• (b) the Governor in Council must make the order referred to in subsection (1) in accordance with the Minister’s recommendation.

Subsequent designation

(3) After the tabling of the national framework, within one year of the start of a new Canadian Armed Forces operation or of a material change in the circumstances related to an ongoing operation,

• (a) the Minister must

  • (i) evaluate military service in that operation against the objective criteria set out in the national framework, and

  • (ii) recommend to the Governor in Council that it designate military service in that operation as wartime service if the service meets the objective criteria set out in the national framework; and

• (b) the Governor in Council must make the order referred to in subsection (1) in accordance with the Minister’s recommendation.

Recommendation — part of operation

(4) A recommendation under this section may be made in respect of all or part of a Canadian Armed Forces operation.

Recommendation — publication

(5) The Minister must publish a recommendation made under this section on the day it is made, regardless of whether it is a confidence of the King’s Privy Council for Canada to which subsection 39(1) of the Canada Evidence Act applies, as part of the consolidated list of Canadian Armed Forces operations created and maintained by the Minister under section 7, together with a brief explanation of how the objective criteria set out in the national framework were applied in reaching that recommendation.

Period of designation

(6) A designation of military service as wartime service takes effect on the day on which the order designating the service as wartime service is made or on any earlier day — but not earlier than July 27, 1953 — or later day that may be fixed by the order. The order may fix a day on which the designation ceases to be in effect.

For greater certainty — benefits

(7) For greater certainty, the designation of military service as wartime service does not entitle a member or veteran to any financial benefit to which the member or veteran is not already entitled under any Act of Parliament.

Tabling — designation orders

(8) The Minister must cause an order made under this section to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the order is made.

Statutory Instruments Act

(9) An order made under this section is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Consolidated list — operations

7 (1) Within 180 days after the day on which the national framework is tabled in Parliament, the Minister must create a consolidated list of Canadian Armed Forces operations and ensure that the list

• (a) is made available to the public on the Department of National Defence website in a searchable format;

• (b) includes a brief description of the operation using clear, concise and plain language;

• (c) includes the Minister’s assessment of whether military service in the operation meets or does not meet the objective criteria set out in the national framework and the reasons for that assessment; and

• (d) includes, when applicable, the recommendation and explanation published by the Minister under subsection 6(5).

Updates — consolidated list of operations

(2) The Minister must update the consolidated list within 60 days of the start of a new Canadian Armed Forces operation or a material change in the circumstances related to an ongoing operation.

Updates — designation of service

(3) The Minister must update the consolidated list to indicate that military service in a Canadian Armed Forces operation is designated as wartime service within 10 days after an order made by the Governor in Council under section 6 is tabled in Parliament.

Coming into Force

One day after royal assent

8 This Act comes into force on the day after the day on which it receives royal assent.