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Fortin says his dismissal was decided not by his military superior but by the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister’s office
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Christopher Nardi Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Major-General Dany Fortin leave a press conference in Ottawa on December 10, 2020. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press / File Article content
OTTAWA The allegation of political interference in the leadership’s rejection of vaccine deployment in Canada, if true, may prove that political calculations govern how the government is handling the crisis of sexual misconduct in the military, said a prominent military expert.
Houston, we have a problem, thinks Michel Drapeau, a well-known military law expert who has represented dozens of CAF members in sexual misconduct cases.
He was responding to a request by Major-General Dany Fortin for judicial review by the Federal Court of the government’s decision to fire him from his post of Vice-President of Operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on May 14. .
Days later, military police revealed in a statement that they had referred a sexual misconduct investigation to Quebec prosecutors. To date, no charges have been laid.
In his application for judicial review, Fortin asserts that he did not benefit from due process before his dismissal and that his dismissal was not decided by his military superior but by the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister’s Office. He asks that the government be ordered to reinstate him in his detachment at PHAC or an equivalent post for a major-general.
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None of his claims have been tested in court and the federal government has yet to file a response to his claim.
To justify his request, Fortin explains that he was informed in March by the Acting Chief of the Defense Staff, Lt. Gen. Wayne Eyre, that the military police had opened an investigation into him regarding sexual misconduct. presumed to have occurred over 30 years ago. At the time, Eyre and PHAC President Iain Stewart told him it was business as usual and he was presumed innocent.
Fortin files legal challenge over his dismissal of vaccine rollout, alleges political interference by Prime Minister Trudeau says he knew weeks ago general surveillance of the vaccination campaign was under investigation
But he says Stewart warned him at the time that the Minister of Health or the Prime Minister’s offices could eventually change his mind and decide he should be fired, and therefore Fortin would have to keep your luggage packed.
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In the meantime, Fortin also alleges that news of the investigation was improperly disclosed by military police and was spreading everywhere, including to one of his subordinates.
Two months later, Fortin says he received a call on May 13 from Eyre that the political calculus had changed following a discussion between Minister of Health Patty Hajdu and Minister of Defense Harjit Sajjan and that the Privy Council Office (PCO) wanted Fortin to be removed from his post as vaccine logistics manager.
It came as critics lambasted the Liberal government for its handling of a slew of allegations of sexual misconduct, some targeting recently retired CDS Jonathan Vance.
He claims that he was not offered another post and that he was therefore de facto relieved of his military duties.
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Following the public end of MGen Fortins’ detachment and his withdrawal from military duty, his reputation was irreparably damaged, his lawyers wrote in court documents filed Monday.
This is not the record of a minister who can be trusted to implement the changes necessary for national defense
For Drapeau, the allegations detailed by Fortins’ lawyers are disturbing if they are true, not least because it seems that the whole procedure was carried out in a hasty manner and in defiance of the law.
The request makes it clear that the Prime Minister, the PMO, the Privy Council Office, the Minister of National Defense and the Minister of Health all appear to have played a central role in the decision to relieve MGen Fortin of his duties. It also appears that Lt. Gen. Eyre simply accepted it as a done deal, Drapeau said in an analysis provided via email.
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If the request turns out to be correct, it may well show that in managing the sexual misconduct crisis at DND, day-to-day political decision-making takes precedence over universally recognized principles of natural justice, procedural fairness. and other procedure required by law, he added.
Conservative leader Erin OToole in the House of Commons on Tuesday once again called for Sajjans’ resignation or the Prime Minister’s dismissal of his incompetent minister.
Falsification of your service log. Throw Admiral Mark Norman under the bus. Cover up for sexual misconduct. This is not the record of a minister who can be trusted to implement the necessary changes to national defense, OToole said during question period.
With such a shameful record, it is no wonder that senior military leaders do not respect their ministers.
In response, Sajjan said he would not take any lessons from OToole.
We know we still have a lot of work to do to ensure we create an inclusive environment within the Canadian Armed Forces, and we will get there, said Sajjan.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ChrisGNardi
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