Military police charge top military judge with fraud, two other counts
OTTAWA — Canada’s military justice system was rocked Thursday after military police took the unprecedented step of charging the Forces’ highest-ranking judge.
Col. Mario Dutil has been accused of one count of committing an act of a fraudulent nature, one count of wilfully making a false entry in an official document, and one count of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline.
The charges relate to allegations that Dutil engaged in an inappropriate personal relationship with a subordinate, and that he knowingly signed a travel claim containing false information, according to a military spokesperson.
While none of the charges have been tested in court, the very fact that they were laid had officials throughout the Department of National Defence scrambling to understand the potential impacts — and how the case would proceed.
Military police first started investigating Dutil in November 2015 after receiving a complaint that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, according to spokesperson Maj. Jean-Marc Mercier.
The alleged relationship is believed to have lasted from November 2014 to October 2015 and while consensual, was not permitted under military regulations, Mercier said.
It was during the course of their investigation into that relationship, Mercier said, that military police uncovered evidence to suggest Dutil knowingly signed a travel claim containing false information in September 2015.
It’s believed Dutil is the first person to be charged while serving as the chief military judge, and the case will now proceed through the military justice system in which he serves as a prominent member.
Judge Advocate General Commodore Genevieve Bernatchez took the unusual step of issuing a statement in which she acknowledged that the charges present “unique challenges.”
However, she said the charges are a reminder that no one is above the law and added she’s “fully confident that we have the processes in place to deal with the current circumstances fairly and in accordance with the law.”