2nd Cdn Chief of Defence Staff resigns over sexual harassment claim

Less than a month ago [on February 4th, to be exact. Ed.] Walt told youthe sad story of Canadian Army General Jonathan Vance, who was forced to step down from his position as Chief of Defence Staff over concerns about his alleged intimate relationship with a junior officer. Tsk, tsk. "Me Too!"

That was kind of funny (not "funny curious" but "funny haha") because Gen. Vance was the driving force behind "Operation Honour", the Canuck military's PR campaign to quash sexual misconduct in the forces. French-speaking members of the military quickly transformed the name of the exercise into "`Op On Her".

Nothing deterred, the alleged government of Liberal Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface appoint a new CDS, in the person of Admiral Art McDonald. In announcing the appointment, Mr Socks praised him in these words: "Vice-Admiral Ronald... sorry... Art McDonald brings decades of experience in a variety of command and staff roles, and I am confident that he will provide dedicated leadership to the Canadian Armed Forces as they continue to respond wherever is needed to protect Canadians and our values."

"Canadian values"... yes... sure. Just two days ago, Adm. McDonald sent a message to all Canadian Forces personnel saying he was committed to earning their trust as well as taking bold action against sexual misconduct! 

The ink was barely dry on the press release when a source contacted the meeja with a series of allegations of sexual misconduct, complete with the specific file number for an ongoing police investigation that had been launched a month earlier. 

A victim had come forward and multiple witnesses were providing corroborating statements to police, the source noted. Just seven hours later, 45 minutes before midnight, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan (the Hero of Afghanistan -- you can look it up) announced the CDS was "voluntarily" leaving the job "until the probe was completed." 

Whether Adm. McDonald will regain his position as Monarch of the Sea remains to be seen, but at least Canucks can be glad that, unlike the British Navy, which has always "run on rum and buggery", Her Majesty's Canadian Navy is staffed by officers and men [and women. Ed.] who are resolutely heterosexual.

Canada's top general latest victim of "Me Too"

Meet General Jonathan Holbert Vance, CMM, MSC, CD, recently --very recently -- retired from the Canadian Army. General Vance served as the chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces from 2015 to 2021. 

As reported here -- see "Canadian Armed Forces' 'Operation Hop on Her'", WWW 26/10/15 --  Jonboy was also the driving force behind Operation Honour, the military's PR campaign to quash sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces, or at least stop people from talking about it. 

But (as Walt reported) Canadian boys will be Canadian boys [except of course for those who haven't had the op yet. Ed.] It didn't take long for some uniformed wags to come up with a new name for the plan. Some recruits at the Royal Military College, as well as other Canadian Forces personnel including individuals at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, transmuted "Op Honour" to "Hop On `Er". [Geddit? If not, imagine saying "Op Honour" with a French-Canadian accent. It's a pun! Ed.] 

Now that General Vance has stepped down from his lofty position, some junior officers are suggesting that his alleged [We media professionals always say that. Ed.] behaviour undercut that initiative.

They say now that concerns about Jonboy's alleged relationships with female subordinates [Female! Nothing wrong with Jonboy. Ed.] were talked about among military leaders and in the defence community over the past several years, but no action was taken because "no official complaints were ever filed." 

(That's the same excuse used by former Governor General Julie Payette, even though it was disclosed earlier this week that indeed a complaint had been lodged even while the investigation into her unregal behaviour was under way.)

Yesterday, the Canadian Forces announced it will investigate allegations about the former chief of the defence staff. National Defence spokesthingy Dan "the Man" Le Bouthillier said the investigation will be independent but added that the "specifics around any investigation have yet to be determined." In other words (translated from government-speak), they're going to investigate something, but they don't know what.

The investigation follows a report by Canada's Global News that General Vance allegedly had an ongoing relationship with a woman he significantly outranked. [Not a non-com, shurely! Ed.] Global also reported the general is alleged to have made a sexual suggestion [not to be confused with a suggestion related to sex and travel? Ed.] to a second, much younger soldier in 2012, before he was appointed chief of the defence staff. So presumably that doesn't count.

But wait, as Vince Offer (the SlapChop guy) used to say; there's more! "Sources" say concerns about allegations of General Vance's alleged behaviour were acknowledged among senior staff and their wives when the general was named as chief of the defence staff in 2015 by then Prime Minister Steve Harpoon. 

Other generals were also aware of allegations and some National Defence headquarters staff discussed the situation among themselves but without formal complaints from the women they did nothing. Although the relationships may have been consensual, sources say there were concerns about the alleged "power-imbalance" of having a senior officer allegedly in a relationship with a woman in lower-ranked positions.

That's enough alleged allegations for today. We're certain General Vance is an officer and a gentleman. Or at least, he used to be. Ed.

Canadian Armed Forces' "Operation Hop on Her"

Meet General Tom Lawson, formerly Canada's Chief of Defence Staff. His retirement in July had nothing to do his claim in June that sexual harassment was still an issue in the Canadian Armed Forces because men were "biologically wired in a certain way."

General Lawson was commenting on a report by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps, who had looked into a number of reports of sexual assault and harassment in the Canadian military. Her report, released on April 30th, raised warnings about a "sexualized culture" that subjected women in uniform to abuse ranging from sexual jokes and harassment to rape. She concluded that sexual misconduct was not only "endemic" in the Canadian Forces, but accepted by the military leadership.

Strong stuff, eh! To deal with the politically incorrect situation, the Canucks chose a lady, Lieutenant-General Christine Whitecross, to head a special team to, errr... well... deal with it.

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more! Incoming top dog General Jon Vance unveiled a hard-hitting plan to crack down on sexual misconduct in the ranks and send a tough message to those who engage in sexual harassment, assault or other inappropriate behaviour. He called it "Operation Honour".

But, Canadian boys being Canadian boys, it didn’t take long for some uniformed wags to come up with a new name for the plan. Some recruits at the Royal Military College, as well as other Canadian Forces personnel including individuals at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, transmuted "Op Honour" to "Hop On `Er". [Geddit? If not, imagine saying "Op Honour" with a French-Canadian accent. It's a pun! See, now? Ed.]

Military officers told the Ottawa Citizen (our source for this story) that they'd heard such terminology, but couldn't say how widespread the use of the phrase has been. Canadian Forces spokesthingy Captain Jean-François Lambert said in an e-mail to the paper that the crude rephrasing of "Operation Honour" is unacceptable and not condoned. "These matters do not call for levity. This type of behaviour is one of the many reasons [Gen. Vance] has implemented Operation Honour. We expect all members [of the military] to take this issue seriously."

But how seriously does the CAF take it?  After not quite three months, Lt-Gen. Whitecross has been reassigned. The new head of the "Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct" is Rear Admiral Jennifer Bennett, who took over on September 28th.

In her short time on the job, Lt-Gen. Whitecross racked up a lot of air miles, on Canuck taxpayers' dime. She visited 13 military bases and installations across the Great Not-so-white North to hear directly about sexual misconduct. [From whom did she hear? Ed.] She also travelled to the USA, whose armed forces have a stellar record on the file, as well as France, Australia, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Asked about the rather sudden departure of Lt-Gen. Whitecross, Capt. Lambert explained that Rear Admiral Bennett, previously in charge of reserves and military cadets, will still report to Lt-Gen. Whitecross, who is now in charge of the military personnel command. And, he said, "the overall effort against sexual misconduct is led by the Chief of the Defence Staff." So that's OK then.

Capt. Lambert added that the military believes it has made significant progress dealing with sexual misconduct but "we cannot expect to change culture overnight." Which is more or less what General Lawson said. Capt. Lambert's retirement is expected to be announced shortly.

Humorous footnote: Walt cannot refrain from repeating a story about two officers in a Canadian regiment [the Forlorn Scots? Ed.] who were chatting in the mess.
Said the first one, "Did you hear about old Smythe? Got drummed out of the service."
"Why?" asked the second.
"Got caught screwing a polar bear," was the reply.
"Male or female polar bear?" was the next question.
"Male, of course!" was the response. "Nothing wrong with old Smythe!"