Defence chief wants quicker inquiries into military deaths
OTTAWA — The military’s top general says he is not satisfied with the length of time it takes the Canadian Forces to conduct internal inquiries into suspected suicides and other deaths, and is looking at ways to speed things up.
His comments come after the families of three dead Royal Military College cadets expressed anger and frustration about waiting more than a year for the results of a board of inquiry into their sons’ deaths.
Harrison Kelertas, Brett Cameron and Matthew Sullivan are believed to have taken their own lives in separate incidents in 2016, but defence officials have yet to confirm an official cause of death.
Gen. Jonathan Vance would not comment Thursday on the inquiry, which saw formal hearings wrap up early last year, but whose findings are still being reviewed by military lawyers.
He did say, however, that while it is essential that inquiries and similar investigations are conducted thoroughly, he is not convinced that they operate as quickly and efficiently as they could.
“I’m not satisfied, either,” Vance told reporters following an event organized by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “So I think it’s high time we had a deep look at how we do this.”
The families of Kelertas, Cameron and Sullivan are far from the first to raise concerns about the way the military runs such inquiries; other families as well as the military ombudsman have also criticized the system over the years.
Ombudsman Gary Walbourne said some reports took up to three years and that the legal review was often among the most time-consuming parts of the process.
Among the measures that Vance said he would consider is whether to appoint and train specific individuals to oversee such inquiries on a more permanent basis, rather than the ad hoc approach currently in use.