Senior bureaucrat avoids naming names in PMO over Vance allegations
A senior civil servant wouldn’t disclose to a parliamentary committee Friday whom she communicated with in the Prime Minister’s Office about a sexual-misconduct allegation against Canada’s top military commander.
Janine Sherman, a deputy secretary to the cabinet in the Privy Council Office, said she exchanged emails with “people in the Prime Minister’s Office” in March 2018 about an accusation against then-defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance, but declined to name them, citing non-disclosure rules around staff who are not public servants.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his office knew at the time concerns about Vance had been raised, but that he only became aware of the specifics through recent reporting by Global News.
The emails related in part to Sherman’s sit-down with former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne about the allegation. Sherman said the case contained too little information to act on, as Walbourne sought to respect the complainant’s confidentiality and refused to name her.
“There was no information provided that would have enabled us to take further action,” Sherman told MPs in committee, reiterating her testimony from last month.
“He would not proceed with any actions unless he had written consent from the complainant.”
Walbourne maintains his only option was to bring the allegation to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, but the minister, concerned about political interference, referred the matter to the Privy Council Office, the department that supports the prime minister and cabinet.
Current military ombudsman Greg Lick has issued a strong rebuke of the defence minister after Sajjan suggested Walbourne could have done more with the allegation. Lick told the House of Commons committee on the status of women Thursday he would have followed the exact same steps.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is now investigating Vance following a Global News report last month alleging the former chief of the defence staff had an ongoing relationship with a subordinate starting in 2001 and continuing after he was named to the top post in 2015.
He is also alleged to have sent a lewd email to a much more junior service member in 2012.
The allegations against Vance have not been independently verified and he has declined repeated requests from The Canadian Press for comment. However, Global has reported that he denies any wrongdoing.
The accusations have turned up the heat on a long-simmering crisis in the Canadian Armed Forces, which continues to struggle with allegations of a toxic, sexualized culture six years after the Deschamps report shed light on the issue.
Military investigators are also probing Vance’s successor, Admiral Art McDonald, who temporarily stepped aside last month after only a few weeks as commander of the Armed Forces following an unspecified allegation of misconduct. McDonald has not commented on the allegation.