OTTAWA -- Federal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is justifying his handling of an allegation of sexual misconduct levied against former defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance, stating any involvement by him or his office would have been direct "interference."
Sajjan said he stands by his decision to advise former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne to seek out external guidance about the alleged incident, initially reported in March, 2018, so to advance the allegation in an "independent" manner.
The defence minister added that he takes issue with his response being framed otherwise.
"Please don’t have this [committee] member define my experience in the Canadian Armed Forces or what it was like because I would not do it for what happened in your life either okay?" he said in an emotional statement facing a line of questioning at the House of Commons national defence committee on Friday about whether Sajjan’s long working relationship with Vance prevented him from seeking out more information.
"I’ve had many people, many white men, trying to tell me what my experience is," he said. "Please don’t do that, don’t define my experience."
Walbourne, in his own testimony on Mar. 3, alleged that he brought the allegation about Vance to Sajjan and that the defence minister refused to review the evidence and abruptly ended the meeting.
Sajjan rebuts this, stating instead that he followed up with his team in short order, and asked them to have the Privy Council Office (PCO) reach out to Walbourne, but no investigation was pursued because the necessary information was not provided by the then-ombudsman.
Walbourne had agreed to keep the victim’s identity anonymous.
Military police launched an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Vance in early February following his retirement. Â鶹´«Ã½ has not independently verified these allegations.
Sajjan said it’s actually Walbourne that has the authority to start an investigation himself.
"It is the job of the ombudsman to conduct those investigations and I didn’t want to be put into a position where I potentially interfered with an investigation," he said. "For me to launch an investigation into any individual as a politician or direct an investigation, my God, that’s absolutely wrong."
When asked if he subsequently revisited the allegations and whether they were being actioned with PCO, he said "absolutely not," again citing possible interference.
'DISCOURAGING' REPORTING PROCESS
Lt.-Cmdr. Raymond Trotter, a naval officer in the Armed Forces told the committee earlier in the day that his experience reporting an incident of sexual misconduct against Vance’s successor, Admiral Art McDonald, was both "discouraging" and "disappointing."
McDonald "voluntarily" stepped aside from his duties on Feb. 24, and a military police investigation is underway.
Trotter said he was told about a "very serious" allegation of sexual misconduct against McDonald on Feb. 3 by a member, and while it was clear to him his legal and ethical responsibility to report the incident, it was "very less clear to me to whom I should report an allegation about the chief of defense staff," he said.
Trotter too pledged to keep the victim’s identity private.
He said while he was familiar with Operation HONOUR – the Armed Forces mission to prevent and address sexual misconduct – "there was no policy guidance" in the directives.
Trotter said he weighed contacting the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) but didn’t feel it was appropriate given the unit is within the chain of command and ultimately reports to the chief of defence staff. He then tried the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre (SMRC) but was told there was no formal reporting mechanism in that organization.
He said his next step was to contact the defence minister’s office. Trotter finally reached a chief of staff at the Department of National Defence who told him he should reach out to the SMRC. Upon telling her of his interactions with the SMRC and their advice, she said she would bring the allegation to the minister.
Ultimately he was contacted by the CFIN to report the allegation and "having been running in circles all day" conceded to the invitation to speak. McDonald stepped aside nearly three weeks later.
"In this environment I can certainly understand why so many victims of sexual misconduct would be reluctant to come forward," he said.
Adding to an already confusing and complex process, is the reality of a two-tier approach to reportings of sexual misconduct, said Trotter.
"It appears that senior officers seem to get special treatment when there are sexual misconduct allegations. I think maybe because the people who are responsible for dealing with sexual misconduct allegations are senior officers," he said, adding he’s heard it referred to as the "old boys network."
He said Operation HONOUR, while a step in the right direction, requires people to put it into action.
"I think we’re at a turning point now where we’ve put it on paper, we said this is what the policy is, but it’s going to take the courage of a lot of individuals to step forward to really delve into the issues and solve the problem."
