Sajjan mum on when he learned of allegations

Grilled in House over former top general Vance

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was grilled by parliamentarians Friday on why he didn't remove Canada's top soldier when first told about allegations of sexual impropriety by Gen. Jon Vance in 2018.

But Sajjan didn't answer the question and many others like it, citing the need to protect an ongoing investigation into the former chief of the defence staff.

The military police investigation was sparked by a series of reports from Global News, which revealed Vance allegedly had an ongoing relationship with a woman he significantly outranked. Global also reported Vance is alleged to have made a sexual suggestion to a second, much younger soldier in 2012, before he was appointed chief of the defence staff.

Vance has been asked for comment about the allegations but he has not responded. He has told Global he did nothing improper. He retired as chief of defence staff in January, before the allegations became public.

Sajjan met with Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne in March 2018 and was told about the allegations against Vance, the MPs pointed out. Sajjan, however, wouldn't tell MPs on the Commons defence committee exactly when he learned of the allegations.

NDP defence critic Randall Garrison questioned Sajjan on why he did not at least remove Vance from his role leading Operation Honour, the campaign to stop sexual misconduct within the military.

“You knew there were allegations of a very serious nature against the person in charge of the program of rooting out sexual misconduct in the military,” Garrison said. “Why didn't you transfer the responsibility for Operation Honour to another officer as soon as you knew of these very serious allegations?”

Sajjan responded that he needed to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation into the allegations. The minister also noted that any allegations he was made aware of were taken seriously and referred to the proper authorities.

MPs also asked Sajjan to produce a copy of his meeting calendar for 2018, which showed his interactions with Walbourne.

“I don't see the relevance of the question here,” Sajjan responded. “I can assure you I have met with the ombudsman,” he added later.

Walbourne has declined to discuss the details of the 2018 meeting with Sajjan.

Harjit Sajjan