Stéphanie Raymond, Veteran
Photo Credit: Stéphanie Raymond
Esprit de Corps Magazine January 2022 // Volume 28 Issue 12
Let's Talk About Women in the Military – Column 34
By Military Woman
Question:
How would you summarize 2021?
Answer:
Shocking? Painful? Eye-opening? Annus horribilis? Let’s look back.
January
14th – Gen Jonathan Vance hands over command of the CAF to Adm Art McDonald
17th – Vance’s end-of-career exit interview with Mercedes Stephenson, Global News, airs
February
2nd – Stephenson publicly reports on two sexual misconduct allegations against Vance
9th – Parliament starts one of two committee studies into the allegations against Vance
24th – McDonald steps aside as CDS after a sexual misconduct allegation is made against him
March
5th – LS (Retd) Marie-Claude “MC” Gagnon, founder of It’s Just 700 (IJ700), steps down after seven years of unsuccessfully advocating government to fund a peer support program for those impacted by military sexual trauma (MST)
11th – Fifth Estate airs allegations that the military chain of command can and does interfere with military sexual misconduct investigations
17th – LCol Eleanor Taylor’s resignation from the military “in disgust” reported publicly
24th – Operation Honour declared “culminated” and to be closed out
29th – VAdm Haydn Edmundson steps aside as Chief of Military Personnel (CMP) after a sexual misconduct allegation is made against him
April
28th – MGen Peter Dawe provided a registered sex offender character references
29th – Former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour asked to lead a sexual misconduct review
May
16th – Project Trauma Support medical director, and board chair, step down after acknowledging they knowingly selected a male registered sex offender (the same offender for whom Dawe had previously written character references for) to be a peer mentor for a female moral injury cohort
31st – Former Supreme Court Justice Morris Fish tables his military justice system report
June
2nd – Office of the Veterans Ombud reports that all veterans, regardless of the cause of their service-connected mental health conditions, should have equitable peer support program access
14th – LGen Michael Rouleau resigns after socializing (a golf game) with Vance, who was still under investigation by military police (who report directly to LGen Rouleau)
22nd – IJ700 is initially replaced in function by It’s Not Just 700 (INJ700) prior to fully closing
July
2nd – US Independent Review Committee on Sexual Assault in the Military report released
8th – Retired Canadian generals organize to bring Afghan interpreters to Canada quicker
15th – Vance charged with obstruction of justice – his trial is not expected until 2023
August
15th. – Kabul falls and Canada calls a federal election
18th – MGen Dany Fortin charged by Quebec prosecutors with sexual assault
25th – Canada’s last military flight out of Kabul, thousands of Afghans left (still) awaiting word on Canada’s approvals for their resettlement applications
September
11th – Nova Scotia’s Lionel Desmond’s Fatality Inquiry identifies unmet veteran care needs
20th – Federal election results in a repeat minority Liberal government
October
5th – Dawe removed from proposed new sexual misconduct related job after public outcry
13th – LGen Trevor Cadieu steps aside as proposed Canadian Army commander after a sexual misconduct allegation is made against him
15th – LGen Steven Whelan steps aside as CMP after a sexual misconduct allegation is made
November
10th – Former WO André Gagnon is sentenced by a civilian court to six months in prison for sexually assaulting MCpl (Retd) Stéphanie Raymond
24th – CAF/DND Sexual Misconduct Class Action officially closes with almost 19,000 claims submitted, over 40% of which are from men
December
7th – Edmundson, the CMP before Whelan, charged with sexual assault and indecent acts
Fortunately, there have also been some upsides to 2021.
In April, Lt (Retd) Christine Wood successfully led IJ700/INJ700 advocacy efforts to achieve Gagnon’s longstanding goal – dedicated military sexual trauma peer support program funding.
From July onwards, many Veterans have been organizing in support of Afghans in need. Well-earned shout-outs in particular for Veterans Transition Network, Aman Lara and the Ukrainian special operations folk. Bravo Zulu.
Although it might seem logical to end this year in review with the federal government’s long awaited sexual misconduct apology on December 13th, we won’t.
Instead, our parting thoughts about 2021 will be to acknowledge MCpl (Retd) Stéphanie Raymond’s impact past and future.
It is Raymond’s 2011 military sexual assault case that pushed then CDS Gen Tom Lawson to order the Deschamps report, which led to Op Honour. Thanks in large part to her courage and perseverance over this last decade, many of us have cautious but genuine hope that 2022 will be better.
Stéphanie, thank you for never giving up on your fight for justice. Respect.
