Canadian Forces ombudsman Gary Walbourne appears at a Senate veterans affairs committee in Ottawa on May 4, 2016.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Gary Walbourne said he disagrees with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s assertion that the former military ombudsman could have taken stronger action when he was presented with an informal complaint of alleged sexual misconduct against now retired chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance in 2018.
In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Walbourne also warned the Prime Minister against setting up an independent military watchdog agency that reports directly to the Defence Minister rather than Parliament.
“It has to stand separate and alone,” Mr. Walbourne said. “If this doesn’t happen, we will be having the same conversation in six months.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Walbourne testified at a House of Commons committee and set off a political firestorm. He said he met Mr. Sajjan on March 1, 2018, and informed him of an informal complaint against Mr. Vance. He said when he reached into his pocket to show Mr. Sajjan the evidence, the minister refused to look at it.
On Friday, Mr. Sajjan told the committee that he did all he could and it is the job of the ombudsman to conduct investigations.
“When an ombudsman receives a complaint, the process has started,” Mr. Sajjan said. “I didn’t want to be put into a position where I potentially interfered.”
Mr. Walbourne rejects the notion he could have taken further action, adding the “complainant was clear in her instructions.”
“She did not want me to investigate,” he said. “The rights of the complainant are paramount.”
The handling of allegations involving Mr. Vance dating back to 2018 have become a matter of political controversy for the Trudeau Liberals, including Mr. Sajjan, who has faced questions from opposition parties about how he handled the concerns brought to his attention by Mr. Walbourne. The minister also previously told the House of Commons committee he was shocked and surprised to learn of recent reports involving Mr. Vance.
Global News first reported Mr. Vance is facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour with two female subordinates while he was chief of the defence staff. Mr. Vance denied wrongdoing.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Question Period his office was aware in 2018 that Mr. Walbourne told Mr. Sajjan about a complaint involving Mr. Vance, and that the minister “directed him to independent officials to investigate.” The Prime Minister’s Office has not commented on whether Mr. Trudeau was briefed directly on the matter.
Mr. Trudeau’s comments followed reporting by The Globe and Mail that Mr. Sajjan’s then-chief of staff, Zita Astravas, told a senior adviser inside the PMO that information had been brought to the minister’s attention about Mr. Vance, prompting the office to bring in the Privy Council Office, the federal body that runs the public service.
The Globe also reported the PCO’s Janine Sherman met with Mr. Walbourne later that month, but she was not provided with evidence regarding the allegation.
Mr. Walbourne said he has no idea why the PCO was brought into the matter especially after he expressed to the minister that he did not have the complainant’s authority to go public with the allegation.
“They [PCO] are not an investigative body,” he said.
In an e-mail from March 6, 2018, obtained through access to information, Ms. Sherman indicated the PCO was reaching out to Mr. Walbourne to “better understand the nature of the complaint in order to provide advice to the minister on next steps in his role of supporting the Prime Minister and the Governor in Council on appointments.”
Amid political pressure, Mr. Trudeau said his government will create an independent mechanism for reporting allegations of sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Mr. Walbourne suggested the government look at bringing the ombudsman’s office and the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre (SMRC) together to create an entity that could independently address sexual misconduct.
The SMRC provides confidential support services to CAF members who are affected by sexual misconduct. It is within the Department of National Defence (DND) and reports directly to the deputy minister.
A new body must report directly to Parliament and cannot be tied to DND in any way, Mr. Walbourne added.
The CAF have been dealing with high-level scrutiny amid military police investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct involving the now-retired general, Mr. Vance, and Admiral Art McDonald, who initially replaced the former chief of the defence staff.
This week, Lieutenant-Colonel Eleanor Taylor said she was resigning from the CAF and she was “sickened” by the investigations and “disgusted” they took so long. She also said she was encouraged when Operation Honour was initiated to address sexual misconduct, but a “failure of senior leadership to set the example on the operation has poisoned it.”
In a statement, DND said Lt-Col. Taylor served as a mentor to many during her more than 20-year career and there is no place for any kind of misconduct in the CAF.
On Thursday, the House of Commons status of women committee voted in favour of a motion to undertake a study of sexual misconduct in the CAF including a review of Operation Honour.
With a report from The Canadian Press
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