By Scott Taylor
There have been a series of news stories lately pertaining to the string of senior level cases of alleged sexual misconduct that have hamstrung the Canadian military leadership for more than two years.
With all that is happening around the globe, not to mention the sheer volume of these overlapping scandals, it is easy to lose track of just what exactly has transpired. Here, as a matter of public courtesy is a brief summary of how this ongoing saga has unfolded to date.
Things kicked off in late January 2021 with just retired Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance.
He had barely stepped aside when Global National News alleged he had had a 20-year extra marital affair with a subordinate, and that he had sent another subordinate an email invitation in 2012 to accompany him to a clothing optional beach. Vance was subsequently charged with a single count of obstruction, for asking the subordinate to lie about the affair. In March 2022 the former CDS plead guilty and was given a conditional discharge with 80 hours of community service and 12-months probation.
Just twenty-two days after the Vance story broke, it was announced that his successor, Admiral Art McDonald was stepping aside to allow a sexual misconduct claim against him to be investigated. The allegations against McDonald stemmed from a party aboard a ship back in 2010.
In the end the military investigators found insufficient evidence to lay a charge. McDonald claimed he had been exonerated, but the Trudeau government thought otherwise. McDonald’s twenty-two day stint as CDS remains the shortest tenure of a top commander in Canadian history.
While McDonald was still under investigation it was learned that air force Lt-Gen Chris Coates’ extra marital affair while at NORAD HQ precluded him from a post at NATO HQ. He retired early.
Then came the shocking allegation that Chief of Military Personnel (CMP) Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson had committed sexual assault against a female shipmate in 1991.
Edmundson was subsequently charged with one count of indecent acts and one count of sexual assault. The trial was originally set for August 2023 but has been delayed. Edmundson remains awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Next in the spotlight was Maj-Gen Dany Fortin. At the time of his suspension from duty, Fortin was the face of the federal government vaccine roll-out. The allegation against Fortin dated back to 1989 when he was a cadet at military college. Fortin was charged with one count of sexual assault.
He was recently acquitted of that charge by the Quebec Superior Court. He subsequently brought a lawsuit against 16 senior military and government officials for the manner in which he was publicly removed from his post. On Oct 12, it was announced that the government had settled out of court with Fortin for an undisclosed sum.
Then there was the case of Maj-Gen Pete Dawe being sent on paid leave. This was due to a public backlash over Dawe writing a character reference for an officer who was convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow officer’s wife. Dawe has been since quietly brought back on active duty.
Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen Mike Rouleau, took early retirement after it was learned he played a round of golf with General Vance while the former CDS was still under investigation.
Vice-Admiral Craig Baines also played in that same round of golf, but he made a public apology and agreed to counselling, thus retaining command of the Royal Canadian Navy. Baines has since retired.
The next two incidents came in rapid succession with Lt-Gen Trevor Cadieu and Lt-Gen Steve Whelan. Cadieu was set to take command of the Canadian Army and Whelan had briefly replaced the suspended Edmundson as CMP.
Both of their cases recently concluded with the military dropping the charges in Whelan’s court martial and a civilian judge staying the charges against Cadieu due to the length of time it took the prosecutors to bring their case to court.
Some might argue that the string of incidents involving nine senior commanders in less than six months resulted in few tangible outcomes in terms of formal punishment of those facing the accusations. However, given the actual impact of the results from the military ‘me-too’ moment, the institution itself has been changed for the foreseeable future.
