TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT
Fortin an adviser at Defence HQ
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, facing a charge of sex assault, will work on compiling lessons learned from the military's vaccine rollout mission.
Fortin has been temporarily assigned to duty as a senior adviser at National Defence Headquarters, according to the Department of National Defence.
That assignment started on Aug. 12. The DND declined to provide further details, citing privacy considerations.
But sources told the Citizen that Fortin is working on compiling lessons learned from Operation Vector, the Canadian Forces vaccine-distribution mission.
Starting Nov. 27, 2020, Fortin served as the Public Health Agency of Canada's vice-president of logistics and operations, leading the federal government's vaccine rollout. He left that assignment on May 14, the day the Canadian Forces issued a statement that he was under police investigation.
Fortin's legal team has been told the charge against him is based on an incident alleged to have taken place between Jan. 1 and April 30, 1988. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Fortin surrendered himself to Gatineau police on Wednesday to answer an arrest warrant in connection with a sexual assault charge. Fortin said he's been kept in the dark and hasn't been provided with details about the alleged offence.
“This fight against an invisible foe has been the hardest of my career,” he said.
Fortin has challenged the federal government's decision to end his secondment to the vaccine task force. In an affidavit sworn on July 13, Fortin said the government's decision to remove him from the job and announce the investigation had been devastating to his reputation and career.
His lawyers argue the process was unfair and was done for political purposes.
“The decision was arbitrary, not in the public interest, and made solely for the personal and political gain of the Ministers of Health and National Defence and the Prime Minister,” Fortin's legal team noted in previously filed court documents.
Fortin is requesting he return to his previous job or another position befitting his rank.
The court documents noted that Fortin was told on April 19 by the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service that it was looking into one allegation of sexual misconduct made against him.
Fortin is among a group of generals and other senior officers who have either come under investigation or who have had to step down from their positions in the past several months.
Chief of the Defence Staff Adm. Art McDonald voluntarily stepped aside on Feb. 24 after being put under military police investigation.
The CFNIS didn't find evidence to support the misconduct allegation and McDonald's lawyers announced this month that he was returning to the job of CDS, even though the Liberal government noted it was still reviewing his case. McDonald is still on leave.
McDonald's predecessor, Gen. Jon Vance, was also under military police investigation because of allegations of sexual misconduct. He is charged with one count of obstruction of justice. Vance denies any wrongdoing.
Vice Adm. Haydn Edmundson left his position as head of military personnel after being accused of sexual assault of a subordinate. The incident, alleged to have taken place in 1991, is under military police investigation. Edmundson has denied any wrongdoing.