Fortin’s lawyers give Crown documents in sex assault case
A lawyer for Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin revealed in court Monday the senior military officer’s legal team has given the Crown documents they believe are pertinent to their client’s sexual assault case.
Lawyer Philippe Morneau did not reveal the nature of those documents as he appeared in a courtroom in Gatineau, Que., on behalf of the former head of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution campaign, who was charged last month.
“Without going into too much detail, to avoid jeopardizing the case, we are of the opinion the documentation we’ve provided today, with other documents to come, are pertinent,” Morneau told the court in French.
The case is scheduled to return to court Nov. 5.
Fortin, who was not on hand for Monday’s court proceedings, was abruptly removed from his position leading the federal government’s vaccine rollout effort in May and charged by Gatineau police Aug. 18 with one count of sexual assault.
Court documents indicate the alleged assault occurred in early 1988.
Fortin has denied any wrongdoing and his criminal defence is being led by Montreal lawyer Isabel Schurman.
The senior military officer has also asked a Federal Court judge to overturn the Trudeau government’s decision to remove him from his position at the Public Health Agency of Canada, where he had led Canada’s vaccine distribution campaign since November.
Fortin’s lawyers allege the decision to remove him from the vaccine post was unreasonable, lacked procedural fairness and involved Liberal government interference in the military chain of command. The latter allegation is based on what they say is evidence suggesting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan were involved to varying degrees in the decision.