Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she’s “disturbed” by the military’s decision to allow the head of the navy, Vice-Admiral Craig Baines, to stay in his post after his controversial golf game with retired general Jonathan Vance while he was under investigation.
Freeland said she was “surprised” when the acting chief of defence staff, Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, told members yesterday he is giving Baines a chance to redeem himself.
“My immediate thought was, ‘How would I feel if I were a Canadian woman in the Armed Forces?'” she told a press conference today.
“What would that decision tell me about how seriously my bosses were taking the essential work of transforming the world of the Canadian Armed Forces?”
Ten senior leaders have been swept up in the military’s sexual misconduct crisis over the past six months and have left top posts. Eyre has said the military needs to show humility and “truly change our organization.”
But his handling of Baines’ case is drawing fire from Freeland and military experts who say it sends the wrong signal to sexual assault survivors. Eyre had to backtrack and publicly apologize once before over his handling of another senior leader’s case, after he was accused of giving him an institutional pass.
‘They work in a toxic culture which must be changed’
Baines and the former vice-chief of the defence staff, Lt.-Gen Mike Rouleau, went golfing with retired general Jonathan Vance on June 2 at the Hylands Golf and Country Club in Ottawa. The story was first reported by Global News and the Globe and Mail.
Vance is under investigation by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) over allegations of inappropriate behaviour with female subordinates, which he denies. Rouleau resigned as armed forces second-in-command after word of the golf game got out.
“I know, and I think every single woman in Canada knows after the revelations of recent months, that Canadian women in uniform work in a toxic culture,” Freeland said. “They work in a toxic system which must be changed.”
Conservatives call Freeland’s comments ‘hypocritical’
The Conservatives are fuming over Freeland’s comments.
“These comments by Minister Freeland are extremely hypocritical given her repeated defence of (Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan),” wrote Conservative MP and defence critic James Bezan in a media statement.
“If Minister Freeland truly cares about our women and men in uniform, she will join the countless Canadians calling for Minister Sajjan’s immediate resignation.”
The Conservatives have been calling for Sajjan’s resignation for weeks over his handling of the sexual misconduct crisis. A majority of MPs voted on June 18 to censure Sajjan, accusing him of mishandling of the crisis and citing other perceived failings during his six years in cabinet.
The government has tasked former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour with leading an external review of sexual harassment and misconduct in the military.
Freeland worked with Arbour when she was the minister of Foreign Affairs. She said she believes she’s the right person to run the external review.
“She does not pull her punches and I have a lot of confidence that she will be one of the people who helps drive the real transformation that we need,” said Freeland.
The Department of National Defence also created a new position of chief of conduct and professionalism, now held by Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan.
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