PM's chief of staff offers to testify
VANCE HEARINGS
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff has offered to testify at a House of Commons committee studying allegations of sexual misconduct against Canada's former top military commander.
The Canadian Press has learned that Katie Telford has written members of the defence committee offering to testify at their meeting Friday.
Opposition parties have been demanding she appear to explain an apparent discrepancy between Trudeau's assertion that his office did not know a complaint against then-defence chief general Jonathan Vance involved sexual misconduct and other testimony and emails suggesting that it did know.
The Conservatives earlier this week moved a motion calling for Telford to be fired for not telling Trudeau that the complaint was sexual in nature. That motion was defeated.
Trudeau has defended Telford by saying no one in his office knew the issue was of a “Me Too” nature.
The NDP has said while it wants to hear Telford testify about what she knew of the Vance complaint, it believes it was the responsibility of Trudeau and his defence minister to take action, not an unelected staffer.
The New Democratic Party has also accused Conservatives of going after the only woman involved in the matter — something Tory deputy leader Candice Bergen called “sexist” for suggesting powerful women be held to a different standard than men in the same roles.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said he was informed about the complaint in 2018 by then-military ombudsman Gary Walbourne and immediately referred the matter to the Privy Council Office.
The Privy Council Office has said it could not pursue an investigation because it did not receive the information it needed to move forward.
In response to the ongoing pressure his government has faced around how it handled the allegations against Vance and reports of sexual misconduct in the military, the Liberals asked a former Supreme Court justice and UN high commissioner to conduct a review of the matter.
It would be the second review done by a retired Supreme Court justice on the issue in about six years.
The government says the new review by Louise Arbour will focus on how the military handles sexual assault, harassment and other forms of misconduct.
But a Conservative Quebec senator is asking Arbour, who has said she believes fresh progress can be made on the issue, to reject the mandate.
Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu says the Liberal government hasn't acted on the earlier review's recommendations, such as creating an independent accountability centre outside of the armed forces to deal with sexual harassment and sexual assault complaints.