ON TARGET: “I See Cracks”: General Eyre

By Scott Taylor

Last week in an interview with the Canadian Press Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre, Canada’s acting Chief of the Defence Staff, admitted that the Canadian military is beginning to exhibit ‘cracks’.

Eyre explained that these ‘cracks’ are the result of the Canadian Armed Forces facing a multitude of concurrent challenges in terms of maintaining a brisk operational tempo while dealing with plummeting morale in the ranks.

The greatest contributor to that loss of faith in the senior leadership has been the almost continuous barrage of sexual misconduct revelations involving the top brass.

The first of these bombshells exploded on Feb. 2, 2021 when Global National’s Mercedes Stephenson revealed two allegations of sexual impropriety against General Jonathan Vance.

Vance had just stepped down as CDS after a five-year stint as Canada’s top soldier, but he had not yet officially retired from the Forces.

Admiral Art McDonald announced that in addition to a Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) investigation into the Vance allegations, a separate independent inquiry would be initiated into the actions of the former CDS.

The ink was still damp on McDonald’s message when it was announced that he was stepping aside as CDS to allow the CFNIS investigate a sexual misconduct complaint against him.

Then came the news that Lt.-Gen. Chris Coates would not be deploying to his new position at NATO headquarters because of an extra-marital affair he had while at his NORAD posting in Colorado Springs.

Next up to bat was Chief of Military Personnel, Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson. News reports first cited that as a young officer Edmundson had faced allegations of impropriety while an instructor at CFB Esquimalt. The chain of command at the time had cleared Edmundson, which earned him the satirical nickname of the ‘mulligan’ man.

However once that story broke, memories were jarred and a separate accusation arose against Edmundson. This was an allegation of rape that occurred aboard a RCN ship in 1991.

On Friday, May 14 it was announced that Major General Dany Fortin was suspended from his high profile post overseeing the national roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines with the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The reason for Fortin’s removal was that he too was under investigation by the CFNIS for past sexual misconduct. Media reports have revealed that the complaint against Fortin dated back to 1989 when he was a cadet at the College Militaire Royal in St Jean, Quebec.

In less than four months Canada lost two four star generals, two three star generals and a very high profile two star general. For the purists, I realize that Canadian generals wear maple leafs instead of stars, but either way you slice it, that is a lot of brass to lose in a very short span of time.

In the wake of this sudden exodus, senior female officers have been promoted or appointed to key positions.

Lt. Gen. Frances Allen is to become Canada’s first female Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. Jennie Carignan was recently promoted to Lieutenant-General and named to head the task force to eliminate sexual misconduct.

Commodore Josee Kurtz will soon assume the post of commandant at the Royal Military College in Kingston. The first female to hold that position.

Stepping up to fill the void left by Fortin’s departure is Brigadier-General Krista Brodie who was previously Fortin’s deputy commander at the Public Health Agency.

These promotions will definitely change the face of the ‘old boy’s club’, which was previously the composition of our senior military leadership. However, this in itself will not be enough to change an institutional culture that has been defined as highly sexualized by none other than former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps in her 2015 independent review of military sexual misconduct.

I think Lt.-Gen. Eyre is optimistic to describe the current crisis in the military as mere ‘cracks.’

The CAF is currently changing the senior leadership on the fly, trying to alter a decades old culture of sexual misconduct, while still managing overseas operational deployments in Latvia and Iraq, coping with a personnel shortfall of 2,300 soldiers, and still assisting Canadians in dealing with a deadly pandemic.

This is definitely no time for anymore ‘cracks’.

ON TARGET: Belarus Regime’s Plan Backfired

By Scott Taylor

On Sunday May 23, a Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece enroute to Vilnius, Lithuania was diverted while in Belarus airspace and forced to land at the Minsk airport.

The Belarus authorities had claimed there was a bomb threat, which prompted them to alert the airliner’s flight crew. A Belarus Airforce Mig-29 fighter jet was also dispatched to escort the Ryanair aircraft to the Minsk airport.

Once on the ground Belarus security forces failed to find a bomb, but they did identify and arrest Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

Citing press freedom and global aviation laws, the U.S. led the international cries of outrage. On Thursday May 27, Canada joined in the chorus with Prime Minister Trudeau calling the incident an “attack on democracy.”

If this was in fact an elaborate and diabolical plot conceived by Lukashenko with the intention of squashing the voice of Protasevich, he has to be one of the dumbest dictators to ever rule a country.

Forcing a civilian airliner to land using a phony bomb threat and military jets was bound to grab the attention of every media outlet in the world.

Few Canadians could have located Belarus on the map before this incident, and fewer still could have named Lukashenko as the president despite the fact he has been in power for the past 27 years.

Now, we know that Lukashenko has been dubbed ‘Europe’s last dictator’ and that Belarus is one of Vladimir Putin’s few remaining allies.

However, with this single outrageous act Lukashenko has also unwittingly vastly empowered his heretofore virtually unknown opponent.

Overnight Roman Protasevich went from being an obscure blogger to having dozens of world leaders demanding his release in the name of free press.

Of course once he was thrust into the media spotlight people began to ask just who is this Roman Protasevich? Well, it turns out that he is a 26-year-old self proclaimed activist – journalist.

He began his involvement in the anti-Lukashenko opposition movement in 2011, at the age of sixteen.

Three years later he was drawn into the growing unrest in neighboring Ukraine. After participating in the Maiden protests in Kiev that eventually toppled the regime of Viktor Yanukovich, Protasevich joined the Azov Battalion.

The Azov battalion was notorious for its neo-Nazi links and was largely comprised of foreign volunteers like Protasevich.

While it is unclear exactly what role Protasevich had with Azov, the battalion’s founder Andriy Biletsky confirmed that he served with the unit. “[He] actually fought with the Azov battalion and other units against the occupation of Ukraine, but as a journalist his weapon was not the machine gun but the word,” Biletsky wrote.

Following his combat tour in Ukraine, Protasevich returned to Minsk to start a blog. After being arrested for hooliganism, Protasevich fled to Prague where he entered the employ of the U.S. funded Radio Free Europe, Belarus edition.

He subsequently co-founded a Telegram channel show called Nexta which was instrumental in helping to organize the massive anti-Lukashenko political demonstrations that followed Belarus’ August 2020 presidential elections. At the time of his arrest, Protasevich was listed as the chief editor of a blog called “Belarus of the Brain.”

So prior to this act of air privacy to seize and detain Protasevich, he was a young agitator who fought in a foreign war in a neo-Nazi unit, working for himself as a blogger.

Now, thanks to Lukashenko’s mad plan to publicly kidnap him, Protasevich is hailed by world leaders – including Trudeau – for bravely advancing the cause of free speech around the globe.

So not only did Lukashenko bring international wrath in the form of sanctions against Belarus, he simultaneously lionized a man who was previously an irritating nemesis at best, into a martyr for press freedom.

That would fall into the category of ‘lose-lose’ for Lukashenko.

ON TARGET: The DND Sexual Misconduct Saga Continues Unabated

By Scott Taylor

Late in the afternoon of Friday, May 14 the Department of National Defence issued a curt, three line press release announcing that Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin was being removed from his post pending the results of a military police investigation.

Fortin is of course no ordinary senior officer. Since his assignment to the Public Health Agency last November, the telegenic Fortin has become the face of Canada’s national vaccine roll-out.

Given his high profile, the media immediately began to dig for answers. Well placed government sources advised Bob Fife, the Globe and Mail Ottawa Bureau Chief, that the misconduct for which Fortin was being investigated was of a sexual nature and that the incident in question had occurred prior to the launching of the 2015 Operation Honour initiative to combat sexual misconduct in the ranks.

This timeline also meant that it did not happen on the current Trudeau Liberal government’s watch.

Fife’s insight was widely cited by the other media outlets as no one had anything else to go on.

Then, on Sunday May 16, CTV’s Annie Bergeron Oliver revealed that the complaint against Fortin actually had been filed two months earlier with the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service (CFNIS). The complainant alleges Fortin exposed his genitalia while he was a cadet at the College Militaire Royal in the spring of 1989.

While Fortin did not respond directly, his lawyer, Commander Mark Letourneau told the media that his client “vigorously and categorically denies the allegation.” Letourneau also revealed that prior to being contacted by CTV, Fortin was unaware of the nature of the complaint against him.

Then on Wednesday May 19, Brig.-Gen. Simon Trudeau, the Canadian Armed Forces Provost Marshal, informed the media the CFNIS had concluded their investigation into the Fortin allegation.

The findings of their investigation were forwarded to the Quebec public prosecution service to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in this case.

According to the Provost Marshal the referral of this case to the Quebec prosecutors had taken place “late [the previous] week.” Which means the investigation was complete and out of the military’s control before Fortin was publicly removed from this assignment with the Public Health Agency’s Vaccine roll-out.

Then there is the claim from counsel Letourneau that the CTV reporter’s revelation of the nature of the allegation against Fortin took his client “completely by surprise.” If that is true, then this would mean the CFNIS wrapped up their investigation into a 32-year-old incident without having questioned the accused.

As for the rationale behind putting this in the hands of the Quebec prosecutors, that is explained by the fact that the alleged crime took place before 1998. Prior to that juncture the military did not have the judicial authority to try cases involving crimes of a sexual nature.

The Fortin saga has of course sparked the opposition parties to demand answers of who-knew-what-when among the top Trudeau Liberals.

Questions are being asked of acting Chief of Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre as to why he left Fortin at his post for two months after being informed of the complaint. Others want to know why Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan once again did not take any immediate action.

The revolving door of departures for Canada’s top generals began on February 2, 2021 with the first allegations against recently stepped down Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance.

Then it was his successor Admiral Art McDonald who stepped aside while military police continue to investigate allegations of a sexual misconduct incident dating back to 2010.

Lt.-Gen Chris Coates announced his retirement from the military after revelations of an extra-marital-affair at NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs, precluded him from deploying to NATO headquarters in Naples.

Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson has been replaced as Chief of Military Personnel after a female sailor alleged she had been raped in 1991.

In each of these cases – with the exception of Coates who is not accused of any crime – the allegations are historical in nature. Perhaps more importantly in a justice system that is to presume innocence until guilt is proven, all four of these senior officers under investigation have denied any wrongdoing.

Yet they have already been stripped of command and condemned in the court of public opinion.

Iraq Mission: A Failure of Leadership?

By Scott Taylor

Last week a very disturbing story surfaced in the media which once again clearly illustrates how the Canadian military leadership is totally out of its depth in Iraq.

My colleague David Pugliese at the Ottawa Citizen obtained internal military documents which reveal how Canadian soldiers faced a moral dilemma when they were shown evidence of war crimes committed by the very Iraqi soldiers which they were sent to train.

It wasn’t as if our Canadian trainers stumbled across these videos. It was the Iraqi soldiers who boastfully played them for the Canadians as though it was proof of their martial success.

The graphic images included those of “raping a woman to death; torture and execution of a line of bound prisoners whereby they were beaten to death with what appeared to be rebar steel bars; the execution of bound prisoners by shooting; and the execution of a man by hanging him from the barrel of a [Main Battle Tank]” states a Canadian Armed Forces briefing note.

At least seven Canadian non-commissioned officers viewed the footage and to their credit, they immediately reported the situation to their superiors.

All trained soldiers should know that Article 50 of the Geneva Convention prohibits acts of “willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment” of prisoners.

What the Canadian instructors had seen clearly constituted war crimes perpetrated by the very Iraqi soldiers to whom they were to teach additional weapons and tactical skills.

One sergeant reportedly recommended suspending the training in order for his superiors to deal with this issue first.

However, the senior leadership in theatre assured the NCO’s that the matter would be dealt with, but in the meantime they were to press on with the training of these Iraqis. Just to be on the safe side, the officers also advised the NCO’s that in the future they should not view such videos, and more importantly not take possession of any images. See no evil.

The initial incident took place on 18 September, 2018 at a U.S. military facility near the Iraqi city of Mosul. The troops involved were from the Royal Canadian Regiment based at CFB Petawawa.

They had been sent to train an Iraqi unit known as the Wide Area Security Force (WASF).

Many of these Iraqis had fought against ISIS in the recently concluded liberation of Mosul.

One can easily understand how our soldiers would have qualms about associating with and training individuals who were capable of such cold-blooded murderous crimes.

Yes, the violent crimes perpetrated by ISIS were widely publicized, but that does not grant one the right to kill disarmed ISIS captives in the same fashion.

Police do not get to beat serial killers to death or sodomize rapists. That is what separates criminals from law enforcers.

Despite the reassurances that some sort of action was being taken, it seems the soldiers on the ground did not believe it.

Once the unit was back in Petawawa, they continued to press for answers. “We remain uncertain whether this appropriate action was effectively taken,” wrote one of the NCOs “I am an ethical man and I believe in our moral doctrine and the [Law of Armed Conflict]. I am bothered by the fact that my assigned duties allowed me to train and enable people who in my mind were criminals.” 

When the 2018 training mission was first announced, the commander -  Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin assured skeptical journalists that he was confident in Canada’s ability to screen Iraqi recruits. “I think we have a pretty good vetting process in place to screen out those potential [Iraqi] instructors to ensure we have quality people, that they the Iraqi government feel confident with,” Fortin told reporters.

One month later the RCR NCO’s reported the videos of war crimes committed by these same Iraqi instructors, and they were told keep quiet and to continue the training.

Some vetting process.

On 30 March, Canada extended Operation Impact, the mission to Iraq and the Middle East, for one more year. Since first deploying troops to Iraq in 2014, Canada has spent over $1 billion on the mission.

After all that time and money, we still can’t tell the good guys from the war criminals. Even with the video evidence.

ON TARGET: Canada Must Denounce Glorification of Nazis

By Scott Taylor

On 28 April approximately 250 people marched through the streets of Kiev, Ukraine to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the WW2 Waffen SS Division Galicia.

That’s right folks, hundreds of people gathered despite the threat of spreading the COVID-19 virus, to commemorate Ukrainian soldiers who took an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and fought for Nazi Germany.

This parade drew an immediate backlash from Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine, Anka Feldhusen. She tweeted “Waffen SS units participated in the worst war crimes and the Holocaust during WW2. No volunteer organizations fighting and working for Ukraine today should be associated with them.”

This blatant display of Nazi glorification was also condemned by the Israeli ambassador in Kiev and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Sadly, there was no such reaction from the Canadian embassy nor from the Canadian Armed Forces. Canada presently has over 200 military trainers assisting the Ukrainian armed forces in the face of Russian aggression.

For the regime in Kiev to not only allow a tribute to Hitler’s SS to take place, but to also provide the marchers with a police escort, flies in the face of all those Canadian soldiers who fought and died in WW2 to defeat the Nazi regime.

For the record, and before the apologists claim this event was an exercise in ‘free speech’, Ukraine has cancelled this year’s May 9 traditional celebration of Victory Day WW2 due to COVID19 concerns.

Ukrainians were prevented from gathering to celebrate the defeat of Hitler, but allowed to parade in commemoration of Ukrainians who volunteered to fight for the Nazis?

The U.S. State Department did not directly condemn the parade but in a statement to The Nation they noted “We welcome [Ukraine] President Zelensky’s strong statement condemning the march.” However, they added the comment that the U.S. State Department “continues to monitor and systematically refute a longstanding Russian disinformation campaign that conflates support for Ukrainian sovereignty with support for neo-Nazi and fascist ideals.”

Here is a little bit of free advice for those concerned about Russian disinformation: just put an end to parades and events that glorify Hitler’s Waffen SS.

While I can understand that Ukrainians are proud of their heritage, I cannot fathom why young nationalists seek to glorify those who took up arms to enforce the Nazi’s ideology? Yes, I understand that Stalin imposed ruthless measures against the people of Ukraine and that they suffered horribly under the Soviet regime.

However, the fact that Ukrainian men took up arms to fight the Red Army as members of the Waffen SS does not change the reality that Hitler’s Nazis perpetrated the Holocaust.

Of all the incredible accomplishments that Ukrainians have achieved throughout history – music, literature, cuisine, art etc, I cannot fathom why it is a flawed military unit that fought for Hitler, which these young Ukrainians have chosen to revere.

Formed in 1943, the SS Galicia Division only really fought one major engagement against the Soviets in the Battle of Brody in July 1944.

The SS Galicia was soundly defeated and it was subsequently relegated to fighting against partisans, first in Slovakia and then in Yugoslavia.

For those who would paint the SS Galicia volunteers as fighters for Ukraine’s independence, this theory cannot be justified in view of the fact they actually fought against civilian patriots in Slovakia and Slovenia to enforce Hitler’s Nazi occupation.

In the final days of the war, the SS Galicia changed their name to the 1st Ukrainian Division prior to surrendering to the allies in Austria.

After a lengthy internment in Italy, many of these Ukrainian SS veterans emigrated to Canada. There is actually a memorial erected to the memory of the SS Galicia division in Oakville, Ontario.

That said, it is estimated that over 40,000 Ukrainian Canadians served in the Canadian military during WW2, fighting to defeat Hitler.

It is those brave, patriotic Ukrainian- Canadians that Canada needs to remember. It will make it far easier for our government to publicly denounce any future Nazi-glorification in Ukraine.

ON TARGET: MISGUIDED LOYALTY: MILITARY BRASS SUPPORTED SEX OFFENDER, NOT VICTIMS

By Scott Taylor

Last week yet another disturbing story surfaced regarding the military and sexual misconduct. A retired Special forces major told the CBC that he felt betrayed when senior military leaders provided glowing character references to the fellow soldier who was convicted of sexually assaulting his wife.

The incident occurred in 2017 following the conviction of Major Jonathan Hamilton in a civilian court on six charges.

Prior to his sentencing hearing Hamilton’s defence lawyers received positive character reference letters from Major-General Pete Dawe, at the time deputy commander of special operation command, and Lieutenant- Colonel Scott McGregor on behalf of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment.

Those letters from senior military leaders admittedly had an impact on Justice Larry O’Brien, the sentencing judge in Hamilton’s case. According to the transcript of the hearing, O’Brien said that Hamilton’s military superiors characterized him as “a man of great character and leadership before being engulfed in PTSD.”

In light of Hamilton’s distinguished service to his country, O’Brien sentenced him to three years probation rather than jail time.

On the surface this would not appear to be an unusual circumstance for a commanding officer and for the officer’s regiment to plead for leniency on behalf of a soldier who has proven himself on the battlefield.

However, contrary to the regimental assertion to Justice O’Brien that this case was an “isolated legal incident” it must be noted that Hamilton has since been sentenced to three years in custody for an unrelated sexual assault case.

What is truly perplexing is the fact that, in the first case, Hamilton’s victims were fellow members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The crimes for which Hamilton was convicted involve breaking into a Kingston Ontario home in 2013 and sexually assaulting Annalise Schamuhn on two separate occasions.

He was also convicted of twice physically assaulting Kevin Schamuhn. The Schamuhns are now both retired from the military, but at the time of the incident Kevin was a major serving in the special forces, and like Hamilton, was a member of the PPCLI. Annalise served for 13 years as a logistics officer.

One can therefore easily understand the sense of betrayal Kevin Schamuhn must have felt when he and his wife were victimized, and both his commanding officer and his regimental officer showed support to his attacker.

Upon learning that the character reference letters were being submitted, Schamuhn confronted MGen Dawe and the PPCLI regimental colonel Jason Adair.

Despite Schamuhn’s plea for them to either rescind their letters or edit them to remove anything other than Hamilton’s professional qualifications, both letters were submitted unchanged.

“It made the feeling of betrayal much worse.” Schamuhn told the CBC. “This was the first time I asked for something that meant so much and we were left out to dry.”

Which brings us to the whole point of senior officers requesting lenience from a civilian judge in a sexual assault case because of PTSD developed through military service.

If a service member requires mental health care, then provide them with mental health care.

Suffering from PTSD should not be a literal “get out of jail free” card. Volunteering to serve in uniform should not automatically reduce punishment for a civilian crime.

In fact, like those in law enforcement, military members are trusted to be upholding of those values which they are sworn to protect.

In the Hamilton case he didn’t just violate a random victim, he assaulted a fellow soldier and his wife.

That the military brass chose to stand behind the perpetrator and not support the victim in this case is troubling.

However, it also needs to be remembered that those letters of character reference were submitted back in 2017.

In light of recent explosion of me-too sexual misconduct revelations ripping through the senior ranks of the Canadian military, there will not be many similar letters of character reference being submitted to support soldiers convicted of sex assault. And if there are, they won’t be worth the paper they are written on in the eyes of any judge.

ON TARGET: The General Vance Saga: So Many Not-So-Secret-Secrets

By Scott Taylor

The more bombshell revelations that drop in the military sexual misconduct scandal, the more one understands the scale of the complicity of those who have remained silent.

Last Thursday evening, the parliamentary Standing Committee on the Status of Women heard some shocking testimony from Major Kellie Brennan.

Arguably it was Brennan’s allegations against recently retired former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance – revealed by journalist Mercedes Stephenson on Global News – that set the current military ‘me too’ phenom in motion.

Originally Brennan had wished to remain anonymous when she publicly alleged that she had participated in a lengthy extra-marital affair with General Vance, including during his five-year tenure as Canada’s top soldier.

However since the story first broke Brennan has brought forward many more damning details first through an exclusive Global News interview and most recently before the commons committee.

According to Brennan, during the course of her nearly twenty-year affair with Vance, many of her superior officers were well aware of the liaisons because she made a point of telling them.

She revealed that while they were both working in Toronto, her and Vance would have sex in his office and in his car. According to Brennan, the two slept together on 16 July 2015, the night before Vance assumed the post of CDS.

After sex that evening, Brennan claims that Vance read through the speech he was to give the following day in which he would stress the importance of stamping out sexual misconduct in the Canadian military.

She told Global News that after the first story broke and before her identity was public, Vance had called her and instructed her to lie to the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service (CFNIS) Investigators when they questioned her.

At the committee hearing she testified that she had provided the CFNIS detectives with the audio recordings of Vance allegedly instructing her to give a false statement.

Brennan also stated that Vance claimed to her that as former CDS he is ‘untouchable’ and that he ‘owns’ the CFNIS.

Last week’s big reveal at the hearings was Brennan’s claim that Vance is the father of two of her eight children and that he pays her no support.

For Journalists covering this story the part about Brennan raising eight children as a single parent was not news. The minute her identity was known a quick Google search unearthed an 8 May 2016 news story in the Ottawa Citizen entitled ‘Army of mom: Captain with 8 kids urges more child-care compensation for big families.’ Supporting her in this quest for additional child care funds was Conservative, MP Pierre Poilievre.

As the opposition critic of Treasury Board, President Scott Brison and her own local MP, Brennan realized that Poilievre was best positioned to help achieve her goal. That and the media coverage by the Citizen complete with a photo of Brennan and her eight children grouped around Poilievre in a local park.

The gist of Brennan’s plea was that in order for her to get promoted from Captain to Major she required professional training courses located outside of Ottawa.

At the time, Treasury Board guidelines only provided a $75 a day allowance per family and that was simply not enough to purchase care for eight kids then aged 16 months to 16 years.

Now Brennan reveals that two of those eight were fathered by Vance, who was the CDS at the time she took her tale to the Citizen. The Army of Mom story also noted that Brennan subsidized her military Captain’s reservist salary with a part-time real estate job.

It was earlier reported that in 2015, the CFNIS had investigated Vance for an alleged extra marital affair while he was stationed at NATO headquarters in Naples, Italy. Vance was cleared of any wrongdoing and subsequently married the alleged mistress, a U.S. JAG officer.

The Harper government subsequently named Vance as their CDS and his first task was to implement Operation Honour, the initiative to wipe out sexual misconduct in the CAF.

If Brennan’s allegations prove to be true – and to be fair, Vance has maintained he has done nothing wrong, including fathering any of Brennan’s children – there will be a lot of people that will have some explaining to do.

Vance would have had a top-level security clearance yet we are to believe that many people were aware of his affair with Brennan and our counter-intelligence folks saw and heard nothing for the past twenty years?

Impossible.

ON TARGET: Afghanistan: Three Decades of Futility?

By Scott Taylor

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden finally admitted that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable. Starting in May the remaining American troops - roughly 3,500 - will begin pulling out of their bases in Afghanistan.

By this September 11th, the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 terror attack that spawned the U.S. 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the last U.S. soldiers will be repatriated home.

The Taliban are celebrating this troop pull-out as their military victory.

For the past two decades, the U.S. have trained, equipped and bankrolled the Afghan forces. Technically this force of nearly 400,000 have been responsible for battling the Taliban since 2014. However without the martial ‘stiffening’ supplied by U.S. special forces and the availability of American air support, the Afghan security forces are no match for the Taliban.

Despite their numbers, these Afghan military units are ill-disciplined and demoralized. They don their uniforms seeking to survive in order to collect their U.S. funded pay cheques, whereas Taliban insurgents are willing to kill themselves in suicide attacks.

Analysts predict that the corrupt U.S.-installed regime of President Ashraf Ghani could hold out in some major urban centers for at most a handful of years. Others predict Ghani’s power will be overthrown as soon as the wheels are up on the last U.S. military evacuation flight from Kabul.

Canada participated in combat operations in Afghanistan from 2002 until December 2011. Our troops continued to deploy to Afghanistan as trainers for the Afghan security forces until the spring of 2014.

When the mission concluded, media outlets began to ask whether or not Canada’s sacrifice had been “worth it?”

The butcher’s bill was steep with 158 soldiers slain, 2047 wounded and injured and thousands more veterans suffering from the unseen mental wounds of PTSD.

The dollar figure spent has yet to be fully tallied but it is estimated that when the long term treatment of our injured veterans is factored into the equation, the war in Afghanistan will have cost taxpayers $22 billion.

On the plus side of the ledger there was not a lot to show in the way of meaningful progress.

At its zenith, the NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) of which Canada was one of more than 50 members – boasted a force in excess of 130,000 troops.

These foreign troops were supported by the most modern air force that money can buy.

Despite that overwhelming force, the Taliban continued to resist.

Their continued existence meant that any progress such as the building of schools was temporary at best.

These facts did not deter the war-mongering cabal of media cheerleaders who vehemently opposed Canada terminating our mission to Afghanistan back in 2014.

Their argument was that we needed to see the job through to its eventual victorious conclusion. They harrumphed with indignity at this ‘insult’ to our martial legacy.

Ludicrous comparisons were made to the Second World War and how we didn’t simply pull out of the alliance before Germany and Japan were defeated.

Well, now that Biden has pulled the plug on the U.S. military commitment, we can be certain that Canada will not be missing out on any victory parade.

The Americans and NATO have lost the war.

What is perhaps the worst element of this sad saga is that the senior leadership in the U.S. knew they were in an unwinnable war from the outset – and they chose instead to lie to the American public.

This was categorically revealed in a series of media reports in December 2019. The Washington Post obtained a set of internal documents compiled by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), through the Freedom of Information Act.

These documents clearly illustrated that the “new Pentagon papers describe explicit and sustained efforts by the U.S. government to deliberately mislead the public.”

Even after the news broke regarding the ‘Afghanistan papers’ as they came to be known, the U.S. did not immediately cut their losses.

Now that they have, perhaps even the most hawkish of our military pundits can ask themselves, was Canada’s contribution worth it?

The answer is ‘no’.

ON TARGET: General Confusion: Vaccine Roll-Out In Canada A Bust

By Scott Taylor

The repetitious routine that has become the pandemic norm gives one the false sense that society has been put on hold. However one need only contrast where we were just four months ago to get a sense of how quickly the public sentiment can change.

Back in late November 2020, after more than eight months of lock downs, masks and social distancing, we were given the uplifting news that a vaccine had finally been developed to counter COVID-19.

We realized that this was not the beginning of the end, but it was the end of this beginning as a light was now visible at the end of a heretofore dark tunnel.

Attention was then turned to the massive challenge of actually distributing and administering the millions of vaccine doses once they became available.

In the U.S. President Donald Trump announced that General Gustave Perna would be in charge of Operation Warp Speed which would entail the U.S. military assisting with the logistics of vaccine distribution.

Canada followed suit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau naming Major-General Dany Fortin to head the national operation center for national vaccine distribution. Fortin works through the Public Health Agency of Canada with support from the Canadian Armed Forces.

At that juncture general officers enjoyed an almost mythical reputation and public adoration: Every province soon wanted one for their own vaccine own task force.

In Alberta they were fortunate to have recently retire Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnk on staff as a senior provincial bureaucrat.

In Ontario - Canada’s largest province and therefore facing the steepest distribution challenge – Premier Doug Ford appointed former Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier to head up the vaccine roll out.

“Rolling out and distributing this vaccine, it will be a massive logistical challenge.” said Ford. “Without the right planning it risks becoming a logistical nightmare … we need the discipline that only a general can bring to the task.”

Hillier, the charismatic former top soldier was confident in his ability to get the job done. “The military gives you incredible experiences and leadership in putting those ‘big muscle’ movements together,” Hillier told reporters at the time, adding “It’s all about the fact that I want to do my duty and serve the people of Ontario as best I can.”

While caught up in his patriotic fervor, Hillier also invoked the memory of the Canadian warrior spirit that carried the day on the WWI battlefield of Vimy Ridge and on the beaches of Normandy 1944.

This no doubt puzzled the average Ontario citizen who simply wanted to know when they could expect to get their COVID-19 shot, and instead got a Canadian military history lesson.

As events have developed, the nationwide rollout has been anything but a clear cut victory, and Ontario in particular has received one of the worst provincial rankings.

According to a recent assessment by Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of Vancouver’s Infectious Disease Center, Hillier’s task force did not get a top grade. “Ontario’s really had a scattered approach, and it’s an approach that’s been marred by a changing overall strategy at the central level but then also trying to deploy things at the level of 34 different public health units,” Conway told Global News.
It was also noted that the distribution to date has not been even across the province and that the real test has yet to begin as the vaccines are only now starting to become available in large quantities.

Premier Ford insists that Hillier has done a great job, but the Ontario government did not extend the former Generals order-in-council $20,000 a month contract beyond the original end date of 31 March 2021.

Hillier has since left the post, and has boastfully declared his mission accomplished. At a 23 March keynote speech to the Canadian Construction Association Hillier recounted his success.

“I used every leadership tool and lever I had to pull together the disparate pieces of the Ontario Health Care System to bring it into one coherent operation for Ontario’s vaccine program,” Hillier told the audience. He went on to explain that a leader’s actions, words and values must align. “If any of these is off sync you lose credibility instantly. And it’s only a matter of time before they find some other leader…” said Hillier prophetically.

Dr. Homer Tien is now the head of Ontario’s Vaccine Task Force.

ON TARGET: It Is High Time for RCAF To Re-Think The Snowbirds

By Scott Taylor

In the past week the RCAF’s famed Snowbirds air demonstration squadron has found itself in the media spotlight on two separate occasions. The first instance was the release of the final report on the tragic crash that occurred shortly after a takeoff from the Kamloops, BC airport on May 17, 2020.

Amateur video footage shot at the time appeared to indicate a bird strike on one of the CT-114 tutor aircraft’s two air-intakes.

As the Tutor lost power, the pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall attempted to climb and turn back towards the runway. The aircraft then entered an aerodynamic stall. At a dangerously low level both MacDougall and passenger Capt. Jenn Casey, the Snowbirds public affairs officer ejected, from the stricken plane.

Both parachutes failed to fully deploy, resulting in the tragic death of Casey and severe injuries to MacDougall.

Following the RCAF’s 10-month exhaustive review of all the evidence, we are now told that the bird strike did cause the failure of a compressor. However it was MacDougall’s decision to climb sharply which caused the Tutor to stall.

It is also believed that MacDougall’s shout to Casey to “Pull the handle” rather than the standard cry of “Eject! Eject! Eject!” may have led to the .4-second delay in Casey’s seat exiting the aircraft.

The fact that Casey’s seat briefly went backwards after leaving the plane may have been caused by items stowed between the seat and cockpit. That rearward motion delayed the deployment of the drogue chute, which in turn delayed her main chute from opening.

As a result of the findings the RCAF are recommending the Snowbirds’ aircrew receive additional emergency training in the wake of this deadly tragedy.

Coming fast on the heels of the accident report was the news that the Canadian government will spend $30 million in avionic upgrades in order to keep the Snowbirds’ Tutor jet fleet flying through 2030.

This band-aid solution to keep the iconic Snowbirds performing for another decade simply postpones any decision on purchasing a replacement fleet of aircraft.

For those keeping track, or are old enough to remember, the CT-114 Tutor first entered service with the RCAF in 1963 as a basic training plane for would-be fighter pilots.

They became the mainstay of 431 Air Demonstration Squadron (the Snowbirds) in 1971. The original retirement date for these jets was set for 2010. When that deadline loomed, the RCAF pushed the deadline out to 2020.

Now in the spring of 2021, the plan is to invest $30 million in upgrades and fresh paint in order to squeeze another ten years out of these old airframes.

On the flip side of that is the fact that a full procurement of a replacement aircraft is estimated to be in the ballpark of $1.5 billion.

That is a big sack of cheese no matter how you slice it, for what amounts to an aerial circus act. It is a feel-good demonstration team that showcases the RCAF’s incredible proficiency in acrobatic formation flying.

The problem is that while most casual observers may delight in seeing the hair-raising stunts performed in the sky, many do not associate the little red and white jets as being ‘Airforce’.

The Tutor training planes are unarmed and despite being part of Canada’s defence budget they cannot in any way contribute to the defence of our nation.

By their very nature, acrobatic formation stunt fliers put themselves and their aircraft at great risk.

In their 50 year history the Snowbirds have crashed 28 aircraft in 24 separate incidents that resulted in the death of 7 pilots and two passengers. Dozens of other Snowbird pilots suffered serious injuries as well.

To put this in context, in Canada’s three most recent combat aerial campaigns against armed enemies (Kosovo 1999, Libya 2011, Iraq & Syria 2014-2016) RCAF fighter pilots flew a total of 3002 tactical sorties without suffering so much as a scratch on the paint of their CF-18 Hornets.

For those who would argue that the Snowbirds are a good recruiting tool for the RCAF, the fact is that the Snowbirds present a misleading image of what a modern air force actually does.

Much the same way is the RCMP’s Musical Ride. That is an awe inspiring display of horsemanship but it does not reflect the actual role of our national police force.

As for being a public morale booster, let’s not forget that at the time of her death, Capt. Jenn Casey was on a nationwide Snowbirds tour aimed at boosting the spirits of pandemic weary locked down Canadians.

ON TARGET: This Is The Canadian Military’s ‘Me Too’ Moment

(photo courtesy Sherry Bordage)

By Scott Taylor

This past week saw the burgeoning military sexual misconduct scandal continued to spiral out of control. Inspired by what many are referring to as the Canadian Armed Forces “Me Too” moment, victims who were long silenced and sidelined are finding their voice.

In what will probably prove to be the most damaging development for those in CAF officialdom still trying to contain the fallout from this scandal, is that the latest revelations are coming out on social media.

In a recent Facebook video, retired Corporal Sherry Bordage makes disturbing allegations of a 2010 sexual assault. Bordage alleges that her breast was groped at a mess dinner by her platoon NCO, Master Warrant Officer D.J. Prosser.

Following the proper procedure Bordage reported the sex assault that same evening. An investigation resulted in charges being laid against Prosser and a court martial was convened.

However, without consulting with Bordage, the military prosecutors stuck a plea bargain with Prosser. In exchange for the Master Warrant Officer pleading guilty to a service charge of having “ill-treated a person who by reason of rank was subordinate to him” the more serious criminal charge of sex assault was dropped.

Prosser’s punishment was a $1500 fine and a reprimand.

The presiding judge at the court martial, LCol Louis-Vincent d’Auteuil noted in his decision that Bordage – the victim in this affair – had been poorly treated by the military leadership after lodging her complaint.

“She had to endure, for some time, the fact that she was the one who acted wrongly while it was never the case.” concluded d’Auteuil. “There were rumours and conjectures and it had some psychological trauma on her.”

Despite the judge’s observation Bordage’s career remained sidelined by her chain-of-command and in 2014 she retired from the CAF, diagnosed with PTSD.

This case is only the most recent example of the military justice system offering the accused a similar plea bargain wherein the male defendant admits to a service offence and thus avoids both serious punishment and a criminal record.

If that in itself was not enough reason to question the military’s ability to police itself, one need to only look at how this whole current scandal began to unfold.

On 2 February 2021, Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson first reported allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against recently retired Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance.

Vance had just stepped down as Canada’s CDS, but he remains a serving four-star General. Vance’s successor as CDS, Admiral Art McDonald, announced an independent inquiry into the matter. In addition, military police launched an investigation into the allegations about Vance.

Then the second shoe dropped a short while later when the media were informed that Admiral McDonald was himself the subject of a military police investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.

By nightfall of the same day McDonald had stepped aside as CDS pending the outcome of that investigation.

This unprecedented set of circumstances has proven to be a bit of a head scratcher for military legal experts. No one is quite sure of what the process will be if either Vance or McDonald – or both – end up facing a court martial.

As the military is an autocratic top down authoritarian system, who would sit in judgement of Canada’s only two serving officers that have a full general rank?

The sad fact is that this troubling state of affairs at the most senior level has our allied militaries studying how Canada will handle this.

One would like to think that our military was attracting international attention for our professionalism rather than the fact that we have two top generals being investigated for sexual misconduct simultaneously. A world first.

The worst part of all is the fact that this could have been avoided if the Canadian military would have accepted the recommendations of the 1997 Somalia Inquiry Report Dishonoured Legacy. In their report the Commissioners advised DND to amend the National Defence Act in order to establish the Office of the Inspector General as an independent review body.

Nearly twenty-five years later this remains the only course of action which could restore trust in the military leadership.

ON TARGET: Senior Female Officer Quits the CAF in ‘Disgust’: LCol Eleanor Taylor

By Scott Taylor

Last week the Canadian military was dealt another blow on the sexual misconduct front when a senior female officer wrote that she was resigning from the forces in disgust.

In a letter to her Commanding Officer, LCol Eleanor Taylor requested an immediate release from the military.

“I am sickened by ongoing investigations of sexual misconduct among our key leaders,” wrote Taylor. “Unfortunately, I am not surprised. I am also certain that the scope of the problem has yet to be exposed.”

What makes Taylor’s resignation all the more damaging for the Canadian military institution is that she was one of their extraordinary role models.

Taylor served as an infantry officer for more than twenty-five years with combat tours in Kosovo and Afghanistan. In 2010 she became the first female to command an infantry company in combat while serving with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Kandahar.

At the time of issuing her request for release Taylor was serving as the Deputy Commander of 36 Canadian Brigade Group as a reservist.

“I am not encouraged that we are investigating our top officers. I am disgusted that it has taken so long to do so,” wrote Taylor.

This public condemnation of the Canadian military’s senior brass caps off a seven-week relentless media crap-storm of sexual misconduct allegations leveled at the CAF’s most senior leaders.

The result of this tempest has left the command structure in complete disarray and it has crushed morale among the rank and file.

To assist those readers who may have lost track of the many bouncing balls in this scandal, here is a brief recap.

On 2 February, Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson broke the story that recently retired Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance was accused of sexual misconduct.

The two allegations against Vance involved him having a twenty year extramarital affair with a subordinate and an email allegedly sent by him in 2012, wherein he invited a junior soldier to join him on a clothing-optional beach vacation.

Vance denied the allegations.

If the saga ended at this juncture it would have been just a couple of anonymous accusers suggesting that the ex-CDS had character flaws as neither of the allegations against Vance were criminal in nature.

However, once it was learned that the Canadian Forces Ombudsman was aware of the nude beach invitation email and had tried to brief defence minister Harjit Sajjan about the situation in 2018, the scandal began to explode.

Opposition parties began demanding to know who-knew-what-when in the Trudeau Liberal government. Vance was placed under military police investigation and his successor as CDS, Admiral Art McDonald announced there would be a second independent investigation into the allegations.

As this was all starting to boil, Vance’s alleged long term mistress decided to go public with details of the affair.

In an interview with Stephenson on Global News, Kellie Brennan described the times and locations of her trysts with Vance, including having sex with him on the eve of him becoming CDS.

Brennan’s most shocking allegation was that after the story had first broken and while her identity was still not public, Vance had requested that she lie to the media about the sexual nature of the relationship,

To counter this burgeoning public relation’s black eye, CDS McDonald sent out a message on 25 February to all CAF personnel, advising them to come forward if they had knowledge of any additional sexual misconduct.

Come forward they did. Within hours of sending that message, the media were alerted to the fact that McDonald himself is under investigation for an alleged incident aboard HMCS Montreal that occurred back in 2010.

That same night McDonald stepped aside as CDS and Army Commander LGen Wayne Eyre temporarily assumed the top soldier post.

Then came news that LGen Chris Coates had an extramarital affair while he was stationed in Colorado as Deputy Commander of NORAD. That transgression is now preventing him from deploying to Naples, Italy as Canada’s NATO representative.

Up to bat next was Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson who faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour with female subordinates  while a Lieutenant-Commander at CFB Esquimalt in the early 1990’s.

In her dramatic exit from the military, LCol Taylor said she is hoping that her actions will bring about real change in the culture.

For the sake of the institution, I hope she is right.

On the hopeful side, if any organization knows how to effect short term culture change it is the military. After all, ten weeks of recruit school converts civilians into soldiers.

ON TARGET: Military has come Full Circle on Sexual Misconduct

By Scott Taylor

For many casual observers of Canada’s military the recent deluge of media reports alleging sexual misconduct at the highest levels comes as a disturbing shock.

First it was the Feb. 2, 2021 Global News revelations that recently stepped down, but not yet retired from the military, former Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance had engaged in some inappropriate sexual behavior.

One of the allegations was that Vance had maintained an extra-marital affair with a junior officer dating back two decades and continuing through his tenure as Canada’s top soldier.

The second allegation involved a 2012 email sent from Vance’s military email address, wherein he invited a junior soldier to join him, then a major-general, on a clothing optional beach vacation.

During the initial media storm, Vance told Global News that he had dated the junior officer in 2000, while he was single. However, according to Vance, that relationship was no longer sexual in nature.

As for the 2012 email, Vance claims to have no recollection of sending such a missive. However, if he indeed did extend a nude beach invitation to a servicewoman, he suggested it would have been intended as a joke.

At that juncture of the developing story, it was Vance’s word against two anonymous accusers.

However, things did not stay that way for long. Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson conducted an exclusive follow-up interview with Maj. Kellie Lynn Brennan on Feb. 21.

In that conversation Brennan alleged that the affair she had with General Vance was indeed of a sexual nature. She cited locations and timings of their trysts including having sex with Vance at his home on the eve of him delivering his incoming speech as Canada’s CDS in 2015.

What was far more alarming about Brennan’s comments during her interview was her allegation that once this story first broke, Vance had urged her to lie to the media about the sex. Brennan also claimed that after she was allegedly raped at CFB Wainwright, Alberta, Vance said he could take no action as he felt it might reveal their adulterous affair.

For the record, Vance has yet to publicly comment on Brennan’s allegations and he maintains that he has committed no sexual impropriety.

Which brings the bouncing ball back to the 2012 nude beach email. The recipient of that correspondence took her evidence to the Canadian Forces Ombudsman in 2018.

As the complainant did not want any formal action taken and wanted her identity protected, Ombudsman Gary Walbourne sought direction in this matter from Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan.

According to Walbourne’s recent testimony before a commons committee, Sajjan refused to actually look at the evidence in his hand.

In the world that is partisan politics we now find ourselves fixated on opposition parties clamouring to know who-knew-what-when amongst the Liberal government’s senior leadership.

However, the object of their fixation is a 2012 email between Vance and a junior subordinate which even the anonymous complainant did not wish to have formally pursued.

The initial bombshell dropped on Vance by Global’s Stephenson has since set off a chain reaction of explosive revelations among the senior brass.

On Feb. 24, Admiral Art McDonald, Vance’s successor, stepped aside as CDS pending the results of an investigation into a 2010 allegation of sexual impropriety.

Then there was the report that Lt.-Gen. Chris Coates will not be deployed to a NATO posting after it was revealed he had had an affair while on a NORAD posting.

Then last week CBC aired a report about allegations of past impropriety from the 1990s aimed at Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson, head of Canadian military personnel.

Reeling from these morale-crushing news stories, it is being hinted to the media that DND is about to create a new, more independent investigative service.

Those of us old enough to remember will recall that in May 1998, Macleans magazine ran four weekly cover stories in a row detailing ‘Rape in the Military.’ Public outrage from those revelations led to the creation of an Ombudsman’s office.

In 2013 another series of media reports on sexual misconduct led to the commissioning of a report by former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps.

The damaging findings of Deschamps’s reports were released in 2015 and she categorized the military as a highly masculine sexualized culture. To counter Deschamps’s findings the military appointed Jonathan Vance as CDS and had him spearhead Operation Honour, the full out effort to eliminate sexual misconduct in the ranks.

And that my friends, brings us full circle.

ON TARGET: The Military Sexual Misconduct Scandal Widens in Scope

By Scott Taylor

Last week the burgeoning military sexual misconduct scandal was highlighted by the appearance of former Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne before a parliamentary committee. In his testimony Walbourne claimed that in 2018 he had notified Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan of an allegation of sexual impropriety purportedly perpetrated by the then Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance.

According to Walbourne, when he offered to show Sajjan physical evidence of the allegation in  question the MND jumped back from the table like a scalded cat while muttering “no.”

Walbourne told the committee that he had gone to Sajjan to seek advice as to how to proceed with this difficult situation.

The origins of the complaint stemmed from a 2012 email sent from the Canadian Forces account of then MGen Vance to a female corporal. Allegedly the corporal had met Vance unofficially and asked him for some career advice. The email response from Vance’s account is alleged to have included an invitation for the corporal to join him on a clothing optional beach vacation.

Six years later, the corporal brought Vance’s email to the attention of Walbourne’s office. Apparently she did not want to bring a formal complaint against Vance – who was by now CDS – and for privacy reasons she did not want her identity revealed.

One can easily understand Walbourne’s dilemma. The office of the Ombudsman has no authority to investigate such matters - there was no formal complaint launched and the victim of the alleged impropriety wished to remain anonymous.

In his testimony Walbourne told the committee that by bringing this to the attention of Sajjan he expected the minister to “do his job,” not to “do nothing.”

However by Walbourne’s own admission, Sajjan did take almost immediate action by notifying Privy Council Office that the Ombudsman had some potentially damaging information about the CDS.

The next day Walbourne was called to the PCO and asked about the allegations against General Vance.

In order to protect the victim’s identity, as promised, Walbourne refused to provide details to PCO and they subsequently let the matter drop.

Sajjan also seems to have been content with having kicked the issue upstairs to PCO and deliberately not having seen any evil with his own eyes, considered the case closed. 

And so it was until Feb. 2, 2021 when Global News reporter Mercedes Stephenson unleashed her double-barreled blast of sexual impropriety allegations against Vance.

At that juncture, it was just two weeks since Vance had handed over the CDS post to his successor Admiral Art McDonald. He was however still serving out his retirement leave and still a four star general.

Since he was first appointed as CDS in 2015, Vance had been the leading figure in what the Canadian military dubbed Operation Honour, the Force’s wide effort to combat sexual misconduct.

In December 2020, Vance had renamed this initiative The Pathway to Dignity and Respect, and he was once again the figure head in the anti sexual misconduct campaign.

Thus the Global News revelations were still shocking even after Vance had stepped down.

In her Feb. 2 story Stephenson reported that Vance allegedly committed two separate transgressions. The first was that Vance had been involved in an affair with a junior officer which began in 2000 and continued through his tenure as CDS.

The second allegation revealed by Stephenson was the email invitation to the clothing optional beach vacation.

The whole affair took a political turn once it was revealed that the Ombudsman had given Sajjan a head’s up about the email back in 2018.

In the knee-jerk response of partisan politics, it was soon revealed that Vance had been investigated by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (NIS) in 2014 for an alleged extra-marital affair with a U.S. servicemember while they were both posted to NATO Headquarters in Naples, Italy.

The Conservatives accused the Liberals of knowing that Vance was a potential liability and doing nothing to remove him. While the Liberals in return say the Conservatives were aware of his alleged failings when they made him CDS. 

For his part, Vance has to date denied committing any sexual impropriety.

ON TARGET: Chaos & Confusion in DND’s Upper Echelon

By Scott Taylor

There is a classic scene in the 1996 Hollywood film Michael Collins wherein the newly appointed head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) vows to bring the Collins-led Irish rebels to heel.

“There is a new regime in town and it starts now” the RUC leader vows to his officers. “What you need is a bit of Belfast efficiency.” To punctuate that last sentence the IRA detonate a car bomb that blows the RUC commander to smithereens.

I was reminded of that scene last Wednesday when newly appointed Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Art McDonald issued an email to all serving members and civilian workers at the DND.

McDonald’s message was intended to restore the rank and file’s trust in their senior military leadership’s ability to stamp out sexual misconduct and racism within the CAF. “Our institution can no longer put the burden of change and transformation on those affected by harassment, discrimination, or any form of misconduct. That burden must rest on us. All of us,” stated McDonald.

For anyone wishing to bring forward allegations of misconduct, McDonald assured them they can expect to be heard, supported and protected.  Although he failed to mention the need for “Belfast efficiency” it was at that moment that Admiral McDonald’s proverbial car bomb detonated.

Turns out that nearly a month earlier several service members had indeed gone forward to the military police’s National Investigation Service (NIS) with allegations that McDonald himself was involved in some alleged sexual misconduct.

Within hours of McDonald pushing the ‘send’ button on his mass email, the CBC and Ottawa Citizen were notified that the good admiral was under investigation.

To make things easier for the journalists to follow up this story, the whistleblowers were thoughtful enough to include the exact NIS case file number.

Around 3:00pm last Wednesday, the media did in fact start making inquiries at DND.

Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan issued a statement around 11:00 pm that same night confirming there was indeed an ongoing investigation. Sajjan also stated that in light of the circumstances, McDonald was “stepping aside” from his CDS post until the NIS probe is concluded.

To date the details of McDonald’s alleged transgression remain scarce. According to the victim and witnesses, the incident in question occurred in August 2010 aboard HMCS Montreal.

At the time the ship was participating in Operation NANOOK as part of a task force in the Arctic. At that juncture in his career, McDonald was a Captain (Navy) and was part of a VIP visitor group that included then CDS General Walt Natynczyk and Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

While it will likely be a challenge for the NIS detectives to investigate a more than decade-old cold case, in which alcohol is alleged to have been a contributing factor, it is the more recent timeline of events that has the potential for political and institutional fall-out.

Admiral McDonald took over as CDS from General Jonathan Vance on 14 January, 2021. Within two weeks, reporter Mercedes Stephenson at Global News broke the story that Vance had allegedly engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior.

One allegation was that Vance had an ongoing sexual affair with a junior officer beginning in 2000 and continuing until he became CDS.

The second allegation involved a 2012 email sent to a corporal, which suggested she join Vance on a clothing optional beach vacation.

Sajjan was notified about the concerns over Vance by Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne back in 2018.

At some point during the past few weeks as political opposition parties have been clamouring to find out who-knew-what-when about the General Vance situation, Sajjan was notified about McDonald and the Op NANOOK investigation.

We are told that while Sajjan only learned of the month-long NIS investigation shortly before last Wednesday, and that McDonald found out himself that same fateful day, the optics are not good.

Had the whistleblower not notified the Citizen and CBC of the investigation would McDonald have ‘stepped aside’ as CDS?

It is difficult to claim you ‘jumped’ to do the right thing if the whistleblower’s hand prints are clearly imprinted on your back.

Belfast efficiency at its best.

ON TARGET: The General Vance Saga Continues To Expand

By Scott Taylor

For General Jonathan Vance it seems that the hits just keep on coming these days.

On 14 January Vance stepped down from his post as Chief of Defence Staff after more than five years of service as Canada’s top soldier. After ceremoniously handing the reins of command to Admiral Art McDonald, Vance went into what is termed retirement leave to serve out his remaining days in uniform.

However, less than two weeks after his change of command parade, Mercedes Stephenson at Global National news dropped a bombshell on Vance.

Two bombshells to be precise, both alleging impropriety by the former CDS. The first allegation related to a female subordinate who claims to have had a relationship with Vance dating back to 2001, but which continued even during his tenure as CDS.

The second stemmed from a 2012 incident wherein Vance was alleged to have sent an email to a corporal inviting her to join him on a clothing optional beach vacation.

When the story broke Vance admitted to dating the subordinate twenty years ago noting that they were not in the same chain of command. He stated that while he maintained contact with this individual, their relationship was not sexual.

As for the contentious email Vance has said he has no recollection of sending it, but if he did it would have been intended as a joke for which he would now be willing to apologize.

Given a different set of circumstances that may have been the end of the saga: Allegations and denials in a ‘he said, she said’ situation.

However, Stephenson also reported that the email invitation to the clothing optional vacation had been brought to the attention of the Canadian Armed Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne back in 2018. In turn, Walbourne reportedly advised Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. For his part Sajjan claims that he dutifully notified the proper authorities.

Stephenson’s reports also set in motion a flurry of activity among the senior military brass. Freshly minted CDS Admiral McDonald announced that the military will launch an independent investigation into the alleged actions of his predecessor.

A separate probe is to be conducted by the military Police’s National Investigation Service (NIS).

Smelling blood in the water, the Conservatives requested a House of Commons committee investigation into how MND Sajjan handled Walbourne’s information on Vance back in 2018.

As if things were not already messy enough for Vance, it was at this juncture that this rapidly unfolding news story took yet another turn.

It turns out that prior to being appointed CDS by the Harper Conservatives in 2015, Vance had already been investigated by the CFNIS. That case stemmed from an alleged affair with a U.S. service member who was Vance’s subordinate at the NATO Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, according to multiple media reports.

Although the CFNIS investigation concluded that neither service charges nor criminal charges were warranted in this case, alarm bells should have been going off somewhere.

Back in 2015 just prior to Vance being named CDS, the Canadian military was reeling under a public relations crap-storm surrounding a recently released independent report on widespread sexual misconduct in the ranks.

The report was tabled by former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps who, after a two-year nation wide investigation, concluded that the Canadian military was steeped in a highly masculine sexualized culture, wherein military leaders turned a blind eye to misconduct.

To correct this fault, the military planned to launch something called Operation Honour – an all out campaign to eliminate sexual misconduct. The face of this new broom sweeping clean was to be the incoming CDS.

While Vance had not been charged with any crime, the fact that his alleged actions in Naples had been investigated by the CFNIS should have given the Harper Conservatives some cause for concern. Perception may not be everything but it counts for a lot when you are talking about trust in the military leadership.

Heading into the commons committee investigation you have the Conservatives asking why the hell the Liberals didn’t act on Vance in 2018 and the Liberals saying if Conservatives knew he had faults, why didn’t they vett him out of the CDS post in the first place?

For his part, Vance is probably asking himself those same questions.

ON TARGET: General Vance’s Messy Exit

By Scott Taylor

What a difference two weeks can make in the cut-throat world of Ottawa politics. On 14 January General Jonathan Vance officially stepped down as Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff and handed the reins to Admiral Art McDonald. Vance capped off a 38-year military career with a five-plus year tenure as top soldier, the longest CDS stint in Canadian history.

Immediately upon assuming the CDS post in 2015, Vance stood up Operation Honour, an initiative aimed at wiping out rampant sexual misconduct in the ranks.

The genesis for Op Honour dates back to 2013 when there had been a damning string of sexual misconduct incidents reported in the media. In a damage control exercise the Department of National Defence commissioned an independent inquiry headed by former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps.

After a thorough investigation, Deschamps tabled her report which depicted the CAF to be steeped in a highly masculine sexualized culture, wherein military leaders turned a blind eye to misconducts.

It was in response to the Deschamp’s findings that newly minted CDS Vance launched his two pronged assault on the problem. In addition to clamping down on the perpetrators, Op Honour was to simultaneously establish a support network for the victims.

Despite the tough talking rhetoric Vance’s vaunted Op Honour made nary a dent in the military’s existing culture.

As a result, last November Vance launched a second initiative to confront what senior brass still referred to as a ‘wicked problem’ of sexual misconduct in the ranks.

This most recent plan is called ‘The Path Towards Dignity and Respect.’ In his written foreword to this plan, Vance admitted “There are no quick fixes for achieving culture change. It requires sustained effort and continual assessment to ensure we remain on track.”

Vance echoed those same sentiments in a lengthy pre-retirement television interview with Global National’s Mercedes Stephenson.

Keen eyed readers who closely follow the Canadian defence sector will recall that it was Stephenson, then working at CTV, who first announced unofficially that Vance would replace outgoing CDS General Tom Lawson back in 2015. It would be more than six weeks before Vance’s appointment was indeed made ‘official.’

Acknowledging what has been a long, close working association Vance closed out his interview by thanking Stephenson for “covering the Canadian Forces so faithfully.”

Thus it came as somewhat of a shock on 2 February when Stephenson dropped the bombshell that Vance himself – the architect behind Op Honour – was being accused of having inappropriate relations with lower ranked female military staff.

Stephenson’s initial story was that Vance had an ongoing relationship with a subordinate dating back to 2001, which continued through his tenure as CDS until January 2021.

Another allegation was that in 2012, Vance, then a Major-General had been asked by a female corporal for some career advice. A reply from Vance’s email address allegedly proposed that the corporal join him on a clothing optional beach vacation.

The Global National scoop was soon picked up by all the mainstream media and the revelations set off a chain reaction.

Within hours of the story breaking it was announced that the military police were opening an investigation into Vance’s alleged actions, and with uncharacteristic institutional speed, CDS Art McDonald stated that the CAF will initiate a separate independent investigation.

What was shocking about this whole affair was that it turned out not to be a shock for the senior political leadership.

It turns out that the second allegation was brought to the attention of the Canadian Forces Ombudsman who in turn notified Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in 2018.

Although Sajjan was admittedly ‘concerned’ enough to inform the Privy Council Office (PCO), those concerns did not result in any concrete actions being taken.

So while he was CDS and the public face of Op Honour, Vance was given a free pass by Canada’s political leadership on allegations regarding his own relations with female military staff. The minute he steps out of his uniform everyone cannot wait to be seen taking actions against him.

I’m not suggesting in any way that Vance should be let off the hook if there is any truth to the allegations, but it would seem the problem goes even higher than him.

ON TARGET: IS HILLIER GOING A JOB TOO FAR?

By Scott Taylor

From the outset, I wish to state that I have the utmost respect and admiration for retired General Rick Hillier. He is a natural leader; a charismatic public speaker and he earned the loyalty of those troops which he commanded.

Hillier parlayed those attributes into a stellar military career, which culminated with him serving as Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff from 2005 until 2008.

During his tenure as CDS, the Canadian Armed Forces were named the 2006 ‘Newsmaker of the year’ for their combat experiences in Afghanistan, and as a result General Hillier was a prominent figure on the national media stage.

Esprit de Corps magazine even ran a nickname campaign which resulted in Hillier being dubbed ‘The Big Cod’ (a Newfoundland expression meaning the catch of a lifetime).

That said, I was still surprised when Ontario Premier Doug Ford named Hillier as the overseer of the province’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out.

Hillier’s military career began as an armoured corps officer, a combat arms trade.

One would have thought that the large scale distribution of a vaccine in the midst of a pandemic would require both logistical and medical expertise rather than martial experience.

Nonetheless, Hillier was hired by the Ford government on 22 November, 2020 to oversee the vaccine task force until at least 21 March 2021.

However given the delays to date in vaccine delivery from suppliers, it is likely that Hillier’s term will be extended well beyond that date.

When the announcement was made appointing Hillier as head of the task force, Hillier told reporters that he took on the job because “duty calls.”

However, it was also reported that the job pays Hillier $20,000 a month, which no matter how you slice it, is a considerable amount of ‘duty.’

In December Hillier drew criticism for halting the vaccination process over the Christmas holiday. However that brief interruption has become a moot point now that the international supply chain has been temporarily suspended.

As that particular challenge is at the federal level, Hillier cannot be held accountable for the subsequent provincial delays in the roll out.

With all the challenges, setbacks and subsequent public unrest over the slow pace of the vaccination’s distribution to date, one would think that Hillier would be heeding that call to duty and burning the midnight oil on this project.

As such I was surprised to receive a press release last week stating that Hillier has taken on additional responsibility as an advisor to a Canadian defence company.

As of last week Hillier is now consulting KWESST on how they can increase international sales of their electronic systems which include counter-drone battlefield technology.

When media questioned Ford’s office as to this potential diversion of Hillier’s full attention from the life saving vaccine effort, a categorical reassurance was offered.

John Williston, a spokesman for the office of the Solicitor General wrote “General Hillier will not be commencing his new part time advisory role until he completes his function here as the Task Force Chair, so there is no possible conflict.”

Unfortunately for Williston, reporter David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen thought to put that same question to David Luxton the executive chairman of KWESST.

Luxton told Pugliese that KWESST will be working with Hillier in the coming weeks. Luxton opined that Hillier’s work with the company will only involve “light duties” so it should not interfere with his vaccine efforts.

“Hillier’s obviously going to be preoccupied with his current [COVID] duties.” said Luxton. “But everybody can always find time in that for discussions so that is what we expect to do next.”

As per Williston’s denial, the Ontario government knows that the optics of their vaccine distribution guy moonlighting as an arms dealer will not sit well with the public.

Nor should it.

ON TARGET: Choosing Canada’s Next Governor General: A Suggested Shortlist

By Scott Taylor

With the sudden resignation of Julie Payette from the vice-regal post as Canada’s Governor General, Ottawa is abuzz with speculation as to who will be appointed as her successor.

In addition to becoming Canada’s head-of-state, Payette’s replacement will also inherit the role of our nation’s Commander-in-Chief. The job is largely ceremonial, but as recent events have demonstrated diplomacy and charisma would be welcome attributes on the C.V of any future appointee.

Given that the role of Commander-in-Chief requires the wearing of military uniforms and that a familiarity with martial customs would be an enviable asset, here is a short list of potential candidates for Canada’s next Governor General.

If Trudeau wants to stick with an out-of-this-world astronaut theme, a natural choice would be Chris Hadfield. The man who became internationally famous for singing and playing guitar from the International Space Station in 2013, began his military career as a pilot in the RCAF. After retiring from the space program, Hadfield penned a bestseller entitled ‘An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.’

Another popular choice would be comedian and veritable Captain Canada super patriot Rick Mercer. While best known for his comedic rants, Mercer has also long been a booster of the Canadian military. His love affair with the men and women who serve in uniform began in 2000 when he visited Canadian peacekeepers in Bosnia. Since then, Mercer made numerous trips to entertain the troops in Afghanistan and RCN sailors at sea.

In 2007, Mercer was named the Honourary Colonel of 12 Wing, 423 Squadron in Shearwater, Nova Scotia. As such, he has worn the RCAF uniform and attended ceremonial parades.

Mercer has also penned several books, the most patriotic title being ‘A Nation Worth Ranting About.’

For those doubters who would question the suitability of appointing a comedian as head of state, one need only look at the success Ukraine has had in doing the very same thing. In April 2019 Volodymir Zelensky was voted in as Ukraine’s President despite the fact that his only experience in politics was playing the part of a president in a television comedy.

While we are on the television theme, why not choose Peter Mansbridge? From 1988 until 2017, Mansbridge was the senior news anchor at the CBC. This lengthy exposure as the face of Canada’s Public broadcaster certainly made Mansbridge a household name.

While best known for reporting the news, before starting his career in journalism Mansbridge did a brief stint with the Canadian Navy back in the mid 1960’s. His new book, released last November, is entitled Extraordinary Canadians which is about as patriotic a theme as one could choose.

Another potential candidate would be the just retired, former Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance.

Vance had a stellar military career in which he saw active service in the former Yugoslavia and he twice commanded Canada’s battle group in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Not only did he serve the longest stint as CDS in Canadian military history, he also only left the job earlier this month. Which means that his uniforms still fit.

To date Vance is the only candidate on this short list who did not write a patriotic themed book. However, his 38 years of uniformed service to Canada including front line service in foreign wars would more than compensate for his lack of a literary contribution to Canada’s heritage.

There is also a candidate that has four years of experience as a Commander-in-Chief who became available for employment at noon on 20 January, 2021. Although he is not a Canadian citizen. I know there are more than a few of his supporters here in Canada who would welcome him in that role.

If you don’t believe me, then you’re not on social media.

ON TARGET: No Room For Racists in the Ranks of the Canadian Military

By Scott Taylor

In his final media interview as Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance openly addressed the issue of white supremacists within the ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Specifically Vance pointed to a July 2017 incident involving members of a right-wing, anti-immigration group known as the ‘Proud Boys.’

What was a fairly benign confrontation in Halifax between indigenous protestors and the ‘Proud Boys’ quickly garnered national media coverage when it was revealed that these particular five Proud Boys were serving members of the CAF.

At that juncture most Canadians were heretofore blissfully unaware of this alt-right violent fringe group. The Proud Boys were founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes. They are a male only organization of self-proclaimed chauvinists who are dedicated to preserving “western values” and they “refuse to accept any guilt for the current state of the modern world.”

To become a Proud Boy requires four basic rites of passage for would be recruits; must publicly declare their membership, get a Proud Boy tattoo, receive a beating from fellow Proud Boys while reciting the names of five breakfast cereals and last but not least, refrain from masturbating.

According to founder McInnes the breakfast-cereal-beating is to ensure that the Proud Boys keep a cool head during a fistfight.

Their trademark uniform is a black polo shirt with yellow trim, but quite frequently they don body armour before assaulting ‘leftists’ and ‘antifa’ protestors.

It was the media spotlight on CAF members belonging to this right-wing group that purportedly caused General Vance serious concern. “Before that, I was quite confident that our stance on values was strong and well-articulated,” Vance said to the Canadian Press. “I did not see this as a dangerous phenomenon, but one that needed to be dealt with. Proud Boys, that got me.”

Unfortunately, Vance’s alarm did not translate into any immediate disciplinary action. Within just a few weeks four of the five Proud Boys were back at their jobs, while the fifth member was already finalizing his voluntary release from the CAF. There was no punishment meted out to these individuals, only counselling.

As an organization, the Proud Boys openly boasted on their social media platforms that these Proud Boy – CAF members were fully reinstated without sanction by military officials. “We win, our brothers, the Halifax five are returning to active military duty with no charges, let the social justice warriors tears pour. Proud of our boys!”

Since that incident allegedly opened General Vance’s eyes to the seriousness of the white-supremacists-in-the-ranks problem, across North America the Proud Boys have only grown in numbers and infamy.

Last summer during the wave of Black Lives Matter protests and riots, the Proud Boys were at the forefront of the violence, busting leftists heads and pounding on Antifa supporters.

During the September 29 presidential debate, Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacy and specifically called upon the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”

They obviously took his words to heart and consequently were seen at the forefront of the unhinged mob of Trump fanatics that stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.

Many of those Proud Boys at the Washington D.C. debacle wore body armour patches which were emblazoned with “6MNE.”  That is an abbreviation for the phrase “6 million, not enough” which promotes the sick notion that Hitler’s Holocaust did not kill enough Jews. Disgusting.

In Canada NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has called for the Proud Boys to be listed as a terrorist organization.

Whatever label is eventually bestowed upon them, none of the Proud Boy members should ever wear the uniform of the CAF.

General Vance has just passed the torch to incoming CDS Admiral Art McDonald. It is now his task to root out the white supremacists and I suggest he start with a Forces-wide search for those tell-tale Proud Boy tattoos.

One is too many.