DEFENCE MINISTER HARJIT SAJJAN TOLD THE MILITARY TO CREATE A POSITION EVENTUALLY FILLED BY A RESERVE OFFICER WHO HAD BEEN ORDERED SUSPENDED FROM THE VANCOUVER POLICE FOR AN INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP, ACCORDING TO DOCUMENTS.
OTTAWA • Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told the military to create a position eventually filled by a reserve officer from his old unit who had been ordered suspended from the Vancouver police for an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, according to newly released briefing notes.
Sajjan also wanted the military to upgrade the position less than two months after Maj. Greg McCullough was hired because the minister wanted even more support in his home riding in Vancouver, according to the notes, though that request did not become reality.
The briefing note comes amid lingering questions over how and why McCullough ended up in the unique position before his removal last month following revelations about the complaint and disciplinary action taken against him while he was a sergeant in the Vancouver police.
It also follows opposition calls for Sajjan to resign over his handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving senior military commanders, and amid concerns about an “Old Boys network” that protects the top brass from repercussions.
McCullough was hired to support Sajjan in March 2020 despite an external investigation that found him guilty in 2018 of two counts of misconduct for his relationship with Const. Nicole Chan, who later took her own life in January 2019.
Sajjan's office has acknowledged the minister and McCullough knew each other as officers in the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) and that they both served at the same time with the Vancouver Police Department.
But it says the military was responsible for the process that led to McCullough's hiring, and that neither the minister nor his staff were aware of the complaint and disciplinary action taken against him while he was a sergeant in the Vancouver police.
The Department of National Defence announced last month that McCullough was no longer working as Sajjan's aide.
Prepared for then-chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance dated May 6, 2020, the briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press through access to information does not mention McCullough by name but does show the minister led the charge for a new assistant in Vancouver.
While Sajjan at the time already had four military assistants in Ottawa, and the Defence Department says it has no records of such a position being created outside the capital, the note says: “The minister determined that additional full-time support is required while he is in Vancouver.”
It goes on to say an “appropriate candidate” was selected in March 2020 and was currently working with the minister, but that “based on the minister's recent direction,” Sajjan would need even more support and the position should be upgraded to a full-time role.