Sexist, Predatory Canadian Armed Forces Elite : The Closed-Shop's Closet

 Gary Walbourne. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

"Yes, I did directly tell him [Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan] about an allegation of inappropriate behaviour against the chief of defence staff. I did tell the minister what the allegation was. I reached into my pocket to show him the evidence I was holding. He pushed back from the table, and said, 'No'."

"The only thing I ever wanted the minister to do was his job. Doing nothing was not the response I was looking for."

"I knew it was a hit job [military brass taking steps to sideline the ombudsman]. I don't know if it was a coverup, but I know it was a full-court press to get rid of me."

"What we need to do is get the dinosaurs [members of the military who prey on women] off the table."

Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne

The public scandal surrounding the harassment and sexual misconduct that seems to permeate the Canadian military and which has been brought to light over the past few years, necessitating a commission of enquiry, recommendations and a number of pledges from military brass that this kind of misconduct will not be tolerated and must come to an end, continues. As they appealed to the rank-and-file to respect the women in their ranks and treat them with due courtesy, in a bid to bring the situation under control, who might imagine this to be rank hypocrisy?

 

Then-Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance in Ottawa on Remembrance Day, 2020. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

 

Former Chief of the Defence Staff Jon Vance made it his personal mission to put a stop to the scandalous behaviour of some members of the military toward their female counterparts. It must, and would come to an end he pledged, as he appealed to the troops to bring honour back to the Canadian military. His mandate recently came to an end, and a successor was chosen, Admiral Art McDonald. The new Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral McDonald, like his predecessor, also pledged his full support to ending the predatory behaviour that permeated the military.

And then, several weeks ago, a ranking female officer revealed that she had been sexually abused by General Vance for many years in a relationship she had reported on a number of occasions to senior officers only to be ignored. He was also accused of having made a hugely inappropriate invitation to another female officer. All this before he was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff, although it was common knowledge among other high-ranking officers of Vance's hugely inappropriate behaviour.

 

Former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne told a parliamentary committee that he warned Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan about allegations of sexual misconduct against former chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance three years ago. Sajjan said last week the allegations came as a surprise last month

 

Bombshells just kept dropping. Only a month or so after having been appointed Chief of the Defence Staff after General Vance, Admiral McDonald too stepped down from the job. He too has been placed under military police investigation, just like his predecessor, and for the very same reasons. Allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Canada's top military commander Art McDonald has stepped aside pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

 

Now it has been revealed that Lt.-Gen.Chris Coates who was to become deputy commander of Joint Force Command in Naples Italy has been set aside. He had been selected to fill a top NATO position but the discovery was made that he too had an affair with a co-worker. In all of this, Canada's Minister of Defence, himself part of the military before becoming Minister of Defence, as a top reservist, claims to have discovered these issues of malfeasance after the fact, and had taken all due steps to refer the matter onward to authorities whose job it was to deal with them.

Lt.-Gen.Coates had an affair with a U.S.civilian co-worker while deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado. In all of this murk, the Minister of Defence claims he had no prior knowledge, but nor would he explain why General Vance, a personal friend of  his, never informed him of the situation relating to Lt.-Gen.Coates. The deputy minister at National Defence happens to be Coates' sister-in-law, and she too kept quiet.

"Management and discipline of officers of the Canadian Armed Forces is the responsibility of the Canadian Defence Staff, in this case, General Vance", explained National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. "These types of personal relationships are dealt with inside the respective national chain of command and subject to the nation of origin's regulations on fraternization." The U.S. takes these issues seriously. Remember General Stanley McChrystal, the celebrated intellectual who had made such a difference in Afghanistan whose career came crashing down as a result of an affair with a journalist...?

Now, it has been revealed through Omburdsman Walbourne's testimony before a House of Commons committee that the Minister of Defence knew, but had no wish to know, about all the sordid details of sexual misconduct by senior military. When Ombudsman Walbourne met with Minister Sajjan in March of 2018 it was to apprise him of sexual misconduct, despite Sajjan's having denied he had had any knowledge beforehand when the issue of General Vance's conduct recently surfaced.

Gary Walbourne described to the committee that he lacked permission from the victim of General Vance's conduct to investigate; his approach to Minister Sajjan was for advice on how to proceed. He had asked Sajjan that the information be kept confidential to protect the victim; he wanted only to know how to proceed. "I was absolutely shocked they knew about it", he said, when he was summoned to the Privy Council Office a day later to be questioned about the victim, who had entrusted him with her privacy.

But nor did the Privy Council Office take action against Vance and when Walbourne asked to meet again with Sajjan he was refused. But then came a studied game of retribution from senior National Defence leadership against a man whose job it was to support Canadian military personnel. National Defence placed Walbourne under investigation,  his requests for details refused by deputy minister Jody Thomas. Seven months after his meeting with Sajjan over the matter, he resigned his position, with no other option left to him.

When Sajjan and Thomas, Minister and his Deputy, appeared before the same commission, they acknowledged that members of the file-and-rank Canadian Forces have little trust in the processes meant to protect individuals who complain about misconduct. The fear among them, evidently, is that they might face reprisals should they come forward. One can only wonder with incredulity where on earth they might get that idea?

Gary Walbourne, former Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence, testified before the House of Commons defence committee Wednesday. Photo by Julie Oliver /Ottawa Citizen