Grits shut down investigation into sex-misconduct allegations

The Liberals are shutting down a House of Commons investigation into sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces before it can get to the bottom of serious allegations against top military officers.

The move to wrap up the defence committee probe by Friday ends efforts to hear from top Liberal staffers on what they might have told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about sexual misconduct allegations against Gen. Jon Vance, the former chief of the defence staff.

The motion, put forward by a Liberal MP on Monday, passed with support from Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois on the committee. The NDP and Conservatives voted against the motion, warning that many questions are still unresolved.

NDP defence critic Randall Garrison said no one has taken responsibility for the situation that saw Vance continue to serve despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Until we get to the bottom of who knew what when, we have not concluded this study,” he said. “The testimony is quite crucial to finding out what the prime minister was told,” he added of the need to hear from Liberal staffers.

The committee started looking into sexual misconduct after serious allegations were made against top military leaders.

Vance's replacement, Adm. Art McDonald, stepped down as chief of the defence staff on Feb. 24 after being put under military police investigation.

The admiral had only been in the job since Vance's retirement on Jan. 14. McDonald has declined to comment. Former defence chief Vance is also under military police investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct. He has said he did nothing wrong.

The committee heard that in March 2018, Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne had brought Liberal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan details about allegations of sexual misconduct involving Vance. Sajjan declined to accept the evidence. The Prime Minister's Office and Privy Council Office were also informed there were allegations.

Conservative MP Leona Alleslev, a former Canadian Forces member, pointed out the committee has not gotten to the bottom of why Vance was allowed to continue to serve even after Sajjan was informed about the allegations. “We still have no accountability from the minister or anyone else that it was in fact their responsibility to ensure a chief of defence staff or anyone else was allowed to continue with unresolved allegations,” she said.

The defence committee will now present a report with recommendations about what to do about the sexual misconduct crisis in the military. That will be tabled in the Commons on June 10.