Since January 2021, the Canadian Forces (CF) has been lost in a scandal supercell, which the leadership didn't see coming, but everybody else in the CF and outside of it did. The other thing I can observe: so the Defense Minister is Harjit Sajjan.
He was a police detective in Vancouver, and also rose to the rank of
Lt. Col. in the Canadian Army. On the one hand, you can see that
somebody with lots of experience in the military is the sort of person
you want in the role, IE because they should know their stuff. There's a
distinct drawback, now obvious: if you come up in these circles, you
might have the same blind spots.
Things start with the recently retired General Vance. Remember when the
smack talk was all about "why did you take so long to say 'actually,
maybe CF personnel shouldn't belong to right wing terror groups'?"
Gen. Vance investigated for sexual impropriety
Naturally:
quote:
Vance was also the driving force behind Operation Honour, the military’s effort to quash sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces and some officers suggested his alleged behaviour undercut that initiative.
It quickly unfolds that the Defense Minister Sajjan, the present government and the previous one knew all about this but did nothing.
Well, "nothing" may be unfair:
quote:
But the Vance story continues to evolve and draw Sajjan deeper into the issue. CBC has now reported Sajjan cut off all ties with Walbourne after the ombudsman raised concerns about Vance during a March 2018 meeting. In response, Sajjan refused to ever speak with or meet the ombudsman again. The minister’s decision to freeze out Walbourne prompted the ombudsman to ask for early retirement.
Oh, wait. Maybe that was about something else:
quote:
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan cancelled 17 meetings with the Canadian Forces ombudsman as the military watchdog became more vocal about the need for the government to help injured soldiers.
Seems a bit unreasonable, I mean at least it was just-------------
quote:
Walbourne was increasingly frozen out by Sajjan and senior defence officials after he started delving into how injured Canadian Forces personnel were treated, producing six reports in two years on the lack of support for military staff and their families. At the same time Walbourne was also recommending his office no longer be under the control of senior defence officials and instead report directly to parliament.
I have no idea why Walbourne would suggest that
quote:
Walbourne testified that he found himself totally cut off in 2018 after he informed Sajjan about serious allegations of sexual misconduct against Vance, Canada’s top soldier and the minister’s friend.
Ah
quote:
Walbourne’s testimony in front of the Commons defence committee painted a portrait of a toxic culture at National Defence headquarters. His testimony also contradicted Sajjan’s statements that he only found out about the sexual misconduct allegations against Vance from news media reports several weeks ago. Walbourne noted that not only had he briefed the minister about the misconduct allegations in March 2018 but offered physical evidence of those allegations. Sajjan refused to accept the evidence.
A toxic culture in a Fed department?! Inconceivable!
quote:
Walbourne testified that his request for independence prompted what the former ombudsman described as a vindictive campaign to get rid of him.
DND had kept the ombudsman on a short leash, with Walbourne even having to seek permission from the department’s deputy minister to travel to a base to hear concerns of military personnel and their families.
I mean, can I get an abuse of power?
quote:
Several months after Walbourne tabled a report in March 2017 recommending the ombudsman’s office be made independent, DND officials told him a complaint had been made against him. They refused to provide details other than to suggest it had to do with inappropriate contracting.
Walbourne testified he heard nothing more until Oct. 27, 2017 when deputy minister Jody Thomas told him the allegation against him would proceed to a formal investigation. Walbourne still wasn’t told of the specifics.
The notification came the day before Walbourne was to testify in front of a Commons committee about DND’s failure to act on his recommendations to help military personnel. “It was obvious this process was being used as a means of intimidation prior to my testimony before the committee,” Walbourne testified.
Ah yes, just make shit up and use NatSec excuses to hide it
Can we get some shitty behavior from Parliament now?
quote:
The Liberal MPs on the defence committee tried to put the blame on Walbourne, suggesting he should have gone immediately to military police or conducted his own investigation.
Ah yes, blame the person for not trusting the authorities or taking magic action, reminds me of Saskatoon and all those murdered native men
David Pugliese writes an analysis, saying the obvious, namely "Doesn't all this shit demonstrate why these scrofulous horsefuckers can't be trusted to police themselves?"
They may have later changed the title
quote:
Retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, who produced a major report in 2015 outlining widespread sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces, said it was unbelievable such a situation still exists. Deschamps had recommended an independent centre be created to deal with such cases, but the Canadian Forces rejected that proposal. Instead, it created a centre that reports to the deputy minister at National Defence. MPs heard testimony that the existing centre is limited in what it can do.
IE the person threatening the ombudsman
So, anything else?
quote:
On Sunday Global News aired an interview with Maj. Kellie Brennan who outlined details about what she said was her 20-year relationship with Vance. That relationship started when Vance was her boss and continued as he continued to advance in his career, she alleged. They had sex in his office, at his house and in cars, Brennan said.
Brennan also claimed senior military leaders knew about her relationship with Vance because she told them.
Now there's a good look, but how bad is it really, this just confirms----
quote:
Brennan also alleged she was violently raped by another officer in a conference room at CFB Wainwright, Alta. “And I conveyed all of this to Jon Vance in detail and he did nothing,” she said.
quote:
Brennan alleged in her interview with Global News that she and Vance had sex the night before the general was sworn in as chief of the defence staff in July, 2015. At the time Vance wanted to get her views on the speech he would deliver the next day, she added.
In that speech Vance condemned inappropriate sexual behaviour and warned that would not be tolerated under his command.
“Any form of harmful sexual behaviour has been and always will be absolutely contrary to good order and discipline,” Vance said in his inaugural address. “It is a threat to morale. It is a threat to operational readiness and a threat to this institution.”
Vance launched Operation Honour, a campaign to crack down on sexual misconduct.
But Brennan said Vance and the senior leadership behind Operation Honour “have no clue” about the sexual misconduct in the Canadian military.
That's.....mighty definitive
Oh, wait, I'm being told-----------
The man who replaced Vance as chief of defense staff, Admiral Art McDonald is stepping down because of sexual impropriety
Hours before stepping down, he said the CF was taking bold new action against sexual impropriety
And fair's fair, holding people accountable in any way definitely sounds like new action
On the Bright Side:
Top Canadian NORAD commander had affair with co-worker but didn't break the rules
Put a pin in that
Parliment is going to hear from an officer who was threatened after coming foreward with misconduct claims against the defense chief. No, no, not Vance, the new guy, McDonald
So doing what the head explicitly said to do and being threatened, I mean, how many smoking guns are we on at this point?
What does that pushy former supreme court justice woman know about the forces, anyway
quote:
But Zita Astravas, another witness the committee wants to hear from, has proven more elusive.
Astravas, who was Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s chief of staff when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against the former chief Gen. Jon Vance, couldn’t be found, according to Karen McCrimmon, the Liberal MP who is chairperson of the Commons defence committee.
[...]
McCrimmon confirmed Astravas had been located just shortly before Monday’s meeting.
Cool guys can you maybe implicate the entire liberal party in this too
quote:
The committee will also hear from navy Lt.-Cmdr. Raymond Trotter, who is reported to have been told by a female complainant about alleged sexual misconduct by McDonald. Trotter became concerned about whether the allegation would be duly investigated within the military justice system, and called Sajjan’s office, Global News reported on Sunday. Officials there ultimately declined to take the information and Trotter reported the allegations to the Canadian Forces national investigation service on Feb. 5.
Global reported that Trotter began receiving anonymous threatening phone calls that his military career would be destroyed if he testified at the defence committee.
Listen, somebody keep track of the smoking guns and somebody else start a tally of "additional crimes"
OK, readers, strap in. This is a shocker:
Canadian military can't provide parliament with information on how it is responding to sexual misconduct
There are also the people who are on the record for "not understanding" why the cost of ships in the NSS goes up, so not surprising
quote:
As for harassment, the departmental plan noted that 16.7 per cent of military personnel reported they were harassed in 2019-2020. DND and the Canadian Forces have set a goal to drop that down to 11.9 per cent or less, according to the document. Fourteen per cent of civilian employees reported harassment. The Department of National Defence wants that to drop to 10 per cent or less.
That percentage is *per year*, mind you
quote:
But McCauley questioned those targets. “You would think you would want the goal to be zero,” McCauley said. “You would think there would be no tolerance for harassment.”
Listen, lady--------
Military leaders protected from sexual misconduct allegations by an 'old boys network,' committee hears
quote:
The Canadian military has a double standard when it comes to investigating sexual misconduct by senior officers as an “old boy’s network” provides protection for such individuals, the Commons defense committee heard Friday.
Of course the senior staff gets privileges, National Defense HQ is a horrible working environment! How could they survive otherwise?
the poor lambs
quote:
Trottier said he didn’t want to go the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service because that military police organization is not independent of the senior leadership. He pointed out it ultimately reports to the chief of the defence staff, the same person he was trying to report for sexual misconduct.
Have we heard this before? We've heard this before
quote:
In addition, Trotter reported a separate incident to officials at his home base of CFB Esquimalt, BC. In that incident, a senior naval officer made a sexual innuendo on a Zoom call to a female subordinate in front of more than 100 military personnel. For that complaint, one of the subordinates to the accused officer was given the job of investigating the allegations, Trotter said.
So, if I got you right, you are saying the CF is really bad at this
quote:
But on Friday, Sajjan told the committee that he didn’t want to get involved in the Vance issue because he wanted to avoid politically interfering in any potential investigation.
Well tell your subordinate, then, not the committee
Senior female Canadian Forces officer quits military in disgust over sexual misconduct allegations
Typical female overreaction, amirite
quote:
Lt.-Col. Eleanor Taylor recently sent a request to her commanding officer to release her from the military as soon as possible. “I am sickened by ongoing investigations of sexual misconduct among our key leaders,” Taylor, Deputy Commander of 36 Canadian Brigade Group, wrote in her letter. “Unfortunately, I am not surprised. I am also certain that the scope of the problem has yet to be exposed.”
FFFFFF
Christ Almighty, what
I think the Hooters restaurants of Florida are looking down at the CF on this issue now
quote:
Taylor noted in the letter that throughout her career in the Canadian military, she had observed “insidious and inappropriate use of power for sexual exploitation.”
Some senior leaders are unwilling or perhaps unable to recognize that their behaviour is harmful both to the victim and to the military team, she added in the letter. “Perhaps worst of all are those in authority, who should know better, but lack the courage and tools to confront the systemic issue,” she wrote. “I have been both a victim of, and participant in, this damaging cycle of silence, and I am proud of neither.”
“I am not encouraged that we are ‘investigating our top officers.’ I am disgusted that it has taken us so long to do so.”
Taylor is well respected in the Canadian Army and her letter has sent shock waves through the organization.
Godspeed, Eleanor Taylor
Secrecy surrounds removal of Canadian military officer by police in Kuwait
quote:
A Department of National Defence spokesperson said the investigation was not related to sexual misconduct.
Thank god, hopefully it's only espionage or treason or something
Canadian Navy once again allowed to oversee investigation into "kinky sex" comments by its senior officers
Remember that Zoom call mentioned above? The Canadian Navy investigated and found nothing wrong. Now they are investigating again! LESSON LEARNED
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