By Scott Taylor
Last week Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese wrote a couple of news items to follow up on how a Department of National Defence (DND) civilian employee continues to battle resistance from her former employers over the sexual assault she faced in the workplace. The assault took place during an overseas mission.
Back in October 2023 the Ottawa Citizen first broke the story that Kristen Adams had been sexually assaulted by an Albanian soldier on the NATO base in Latvia. What made the story exceptionally newsworthy was the fact that when Adams reported the assault, she was told by her employers that she should have realized she faced such dangers when accepting a job supporting Canada’s military mission in Latvia.
I can understand that when a soldier voluntarily enlists, they realize they are entering a contract which entails unlimited liability in that they could be killed in the line of duty. However, I cannot fathom a civilian position with the Canadian Department of National Defence that comes with the inherent risk of sexual assault.
To recap events as they unfolded, Kristen Adams was employed by the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) to support Canada’s forward deployed battle group in Latvia. On December 3, 2022 she was working at the Commons canteen on Camp Adazi, which is open to all the NATO contingents stationed there. According to Adams, she greeted an Albanian soldier whom she knew and he proceeded to grab her left breast without her consent. Following this action, the Albanian reportedly commented to Adams “Oh, you are very strong.”
Shortly thereafter, Adams reported the incident to Canadian military police who promptly told her that under NATO rules, they had no jurisdiction to investigate. As a result, Latvian
Military Police were brought in to examine the case.
After interviewing only Adams and the accused, on December 14th, 2022, the Latvians notified the Canadian Military Police that the investigation was ‘concluded’, without providing any further details.
While it was outside their jurisdiction, the Canadian MP’s created a “shadow file” of Adams' case which did not dispute Adams' version of the events.
“On Dec 3, 2022, the victim was working as a civilian employee when a military member from another nation touched them inappropriately and without consent” the DND shadow file concluded.
No charges were laid against the Albanian and on February 3, 2023, CFMWS informed Adams that her contract was being terminated two months early “In order to ensure there is no further risk to [Adams] health.”
The real kicker came three months later when Ben Ouellette, a Vice President of CFMWS wrote a letter to Adams. It read in part: “As you were made aware during pre-deployment training which occurred from 6 to 15 September 2022, there are risks involved in deploying to a theatre of operations where numerous countries work and live together and of the cultural differences that exist. In accepting to deploy, you [were] taking on a certain risk of working in this environment.”
Come again? Does Mr. Ouellette truly believe there is a culture on this planet wherein males can simply grope women's breasts?
Given that by the time Ouellette sent Adams this note, the nationality of the accused was well known, so are we to assume that Ouellette believes this is the cultural norm in Albania? How is this man the Vice President of anything?
Furthermore, all the soldiers at Camp Adazi are members of NATO and therefore they are considered to be the defenders of the shared values which we purport to collectively defend. Why then would Adams be at risk of sexual assault while in Latvia?
After the original story broke, Adams told the Ottawa Citizen that she felt her case was swept under the rug to protect the Latvia mission. That did not stop her quest for justice. Using the Privacy and Access to Information Acts Adams was able to obtain a treasure trove of documents revealing how the leadership at both DND and CFNWS reacted out of fear of media coverage, rather than out of a sense of responsibility to their employee.
After the Ottawa Citizen's first story broke there was an internal backlash among CFMWS employees as to how a fellow staffer had been thrown under the bus. This prompted CFMWS Chief Executive Officer, ret'd Major General Ian Poulter to issue an apology to all CFMWS staff for the manner in which this affair had been handled. The one person who did not receive an apology from Poulter was Adams. The documents obtained by Adams reveal that no apology was sent to her for fear that the mea culpa would prompt further stories in the Ottawa Citizen. Well, it turns out their prediction came true.
In the interest of full disclosure, I served with Poulter from 1984 - 1986 and I considered him a bright young officer. We have remained friendly if not friends over the years and I must say these actions are not those of the man I once knew.
He knew that CFMWS had failed Adams, and he formally admitted so to all the employees, but he would not make that same admission to the victim for fear of repercussions in the media. That is not leadership. Those are the actions of a bureaucrat who puts the reputation of the institution ahead of the welfare of the victim.
