May 14 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — The Canadian military has put another senior officer in charge of its personnel command after the former commander, Vice-Admiral Hayden Edmundson, stepped away earlier this year following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. The announcement, made Friday by the acting chief of the defence staff, is part of a broader shakeup of the senior ranks. […]
May 14 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — A long-promised survey of military sexual assault and misconduct survivors, both serving and retired, is about to be launched by the Department of National Defence — more than six months after Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said that getting their feedback would be key to enshrining victims’ rights into Canadian military law. An internal department document […]
May 4 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — A Canadian army investigation of a troubled reserve unit at the centre of allegations of right-wing extremism identified several members as “vulnerable” and “at risk” of being swept up into “a hateful ideology.” A partly redacted copy of the investigation’s complete findings was viewed recently by CBC News. While he acknowledged some troubling signs, Maj.-Gen. […]
Apr 29 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — In what might turn out to be Operation Honour’s epitaph, the Department of National Defence (DND) has tabled new figures in Parliament that show there were 581 reports of sexual assault in the Canadian military over the past five years. Another 221 incidents of sexual harassment were logged over the same period by the tracking […]
Apr 26 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — The Canadian Armed Forces will deploy three medical assistance teams to help support critical health care facilities in Ontario now straining under the weight of a surging COVID-19 caseload, CBC News has learned. Starting tomorrow, the air force will also begin flying in extra medical staff offered by other provinces to help ease the crisis, […]
Apr 23 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — The Department of National Defence (DND) plans to create a new top level position — a chief of professional conduct and culture — to address sexual misconduct and racism in the ranks, CBC News has learned. A draft plan obtained by CBC News, known as an initiating directive, shows it will be an in-house position […]
Apr 20 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — ‘I was raped only one month into my basic training’ — air force technician Emily Tulloch. A House of Commons committee heard startling testimony about rape and retribution from different witnesses today as it continued its examination of sexual misconduct in the military. The Status of Women committee heard both from complainants and from former […]
Apr 20 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — Liberal government threatens to penalize companies that try to do economic harm to Canada. The federal budget fired what appears to be a warning shot at defence contractors — perhaps one in particular — by resurrecting an old policy statement in a move that may well signal where Canada’s fighter jet replacement competition is headed. […]
Apr 16 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — Liberal MPs launched a late Friday filibuster of the House of Commons defence committee to prevent a former prime ministerial adviser from being summoned to testify on what he knew about sexual misconduct in the Canadian military. The parliamentary dust-up started when the Opposition Conservatives tried to convince the committee to hold at least one […]
Apr 13 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — When the funding renewal for the Halifax Security Forum comes up later this year, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan promised a House of Commons committee that he’ll “take a look at it.” He vigorously denied a report by Politico, a U.S.-based publication, that the Liberal government was threatening to pull funding from one of this country’s […]
Apr 6 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — The country’s former top civil servant told MPs today there was “no path forward” to launch a full investigation into an allegation of inappropriate conduct by Gen. Jonathan Vance when the matter was first raised three years ago. Testifying before a parliamentary committee today, retired clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick defended the way […]
Apr 1 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — There was a time when putting an allied general in a compromising position was the sole dominion of foreign intelligence services. No longer. And while there have been no indications to date that adversaries such as Russia and China have been involved in the ongoing sexual misconduct crisis gripping the Canadian military, the implications for […]
Mar 23 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — It’s a uniquely Canadian conundrum. The political, institutional and social meltdown in the Canadian Forces over misconduct allegations involving the country’s most senior military commanders has piqued the interest of experts in allied nations — particularly legal scholars. And they’re all wondering the same things. How would you try a current or former chief of […]
Mar 14 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — One of the highest-profile sexual assault cases involving the Canadian military may finally be at its end following years of legal battles after the the lawyer for the soldier accused in the case told a judge Friday her client would like to plead guilty and avoid further trial. Former warrant officer André Gagnon was charged […]
Mar 12 2021 — Murray Brewster — CBC — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan acknowledged today that an allegation of sexual misconduct against the country’s former top military commander was raised with him three years ago by the Canadian Forces ombudsman. He confirmed he did not look at the evidence but insisted, however, that he instructed ombudsman Gary Walbourne to use the powers of his […]