Re: Gen. Jonathan Vance being investigated

by Maverick Thu 22 Apr 2021, 8:58 am

IN HER WORDS: The woman behind 2018 Vance allegation tells her story

By Mercedes Stephenson , Marc-André Cossette & Amanda Connolly Global News
Posted April 21, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7776784/canadian-military-sexual-misconduct-vance-allegation-2018/

by Covert Fri 23 Apr 2021, 7:42 am

Maj. Kellie Brennan tells MPs Vance said he was ‘untouchable,’ fathered 2 of her kids

By Amanda Connolly Global News
Posted April 22, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7780124/canadian-forces-military-misconduct-kellie-brennan/

by **Accer** Sun 25 Apr 2021, 2:50 pm

Freeland apologizes to women harassed in military, says she never knew of Vance allegation

By Rachel Gilmore Global News
Posted April 25, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7784588/freeland-apologizes-women-military-vance-allegation/

by **Proctor** Sun 25 Apr 2021, 4:24 pm

04.25.2021

by **Replica** Mon 26 Apr 2021, 7:45 am

Chrystia Freeland says allegations against former top soldier Jonathan Vance 'deeply, deeply troubling'

Christopher Nardi
Publishing date: Apr 25, 2021

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/chrystia-freeland-says-allegations-against-former-top-soldier-jonathan-vance-are-deeply-deeply-troubling

by **Replica** Mon 26 Apr 2021, 7:47 am

Tories demand more Vance allegation hearings, press for Trudeau’s top aide to speak

By Staff The Canadian Press
Posted April 25, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7799733/vance-allegations-katie-telford/

by Ironman Mon 26 Apr 2021, 9:35 pm

04.26.2021

by **Stargunner** Wed 28 Apr 2021, 9:41 pm

04.28.2021

by **Falcon** Mon 03 May 2021, 4:37 pm

05.03.2021

by **Navigator** Fri 07 May 2021, 2:45 pm

What you need to know about the military sexual misconduct scandal involving Gen. Vance

Tristin Hopper
Publishing date: May 07, 2021

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-military-sexual-misconduct-scandal-involving-gen-vance

by **RazzorSharp))** Fri 07 May 2021, 4:40 pm

Telford repeatedly dodges questions about not telling Trudeau of 2018 Vance allegation

By Amanda Connolly Global News
Posted May 7, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7842824/canadian-forces-sexual-misconduct-justin-trudeau-katie-telford/

by **RazzorSharp))** Fri 07 May 2021, 4:55 pm

05.07.2021

by **Stargunner** Mon 10 May 2021, 2:44 pm

They really love playing the old blame game on Parliament Hill

By Geoffrey Stevens Contributing Columnist
Mon., May 10, 2021

They are busy playing the good old blame game again on Parliament Hill. This time, the game combines two familiar elements: sexual misconduct in Canadian Armed Forces and a breakdown in the chain of accountability for a purported scandal, a high-profile affair involving Jonathan Vance, the former chief of the defence staff.

Who knew what when? Who passed along how much information to whom? And what did whom do with it?

Where did the buck stop? Did it stop anywhere? Or did it get lost along the way, the casualty of an opaque system of accountability that invites evasion and denial.

The latest scandal consists of allegations of sexual misconduct, denied by Vance, that, while CDS, he had an inappropriate personal relationship with a female subordinate, a major, and that some years earlier, in 2012, he had sent a naughty email to a female corporal suggesting she might enjoy vacationing with him at a clothing-optional resort.

In the civilian world, a CEO who had a consensual affair with, say, one of his sales managers, would fuel coffee-machine gossip – he might receive a gentle suggestion or two that he be more discreet – but, as long as the relationship did not adversely affect his job or involve the firm’s money, he would not be fired or lose his reserved parking space.

It’s different in the armed forces. Generals and majors (or corporals) are not co-workers in some touchy-feely workplace. The military is not a democracy. Its organization chart is a command structure. Its directives are orders meant to be followed without protest.

If, hypothetically, a colonel were to order a major to terminate her romantic liaison with a more senior officer, she would be expected to obey, or resign. But, as members of the armed forces know only too well, and as their political overseers keep struggling to grasp, it is not so simple when command authority and the chain of accountability come up against issues of rank, sex, personal privacy and the exercise of free will (to the extent that civil right is recognized in a military organization).

What if the senior officer in the relationship that the colonel wants the major to end happens to be their mutual boss, the top general? The colonel may be as fond of his job as the major is of her lover. Is there no room for consideration of such human factors in the Canadian Armed Forces?

The rule seems firm: no intimate relationships between officers and their subordinates, not even if a relationship is consensual and the subordinate is not in the senior officer’s line of command. It is a rule that would be laughed out of court in the civilian world.

There’s a complicating issue in the Vance case. Major Kellie Brennan claims that he ordered her to lie about their relationship and warned “consequences” if she did not follow his orders.

It was the opportunity or risk of coercion that led the Harper Conservative government to appoint retired Supreme Court Canada Justice Marie Deschamps to investigate the CAF’s handling of complaints of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse. When she reported in 2015, Justice Deschamps recommended the establishment of an independent body, outside the military command, to investigate complaints.

The Harper government did not act on the Deschamps report and the Trudeau Liberals kept spinning their wheels until late April when they announced that another retired Supreme Court judge, Louise Arbour, would conduct a second inquiry – this one to tell the government how to implement the recommendations of the first inquiry.

Amid this silliness, the legitimate issue of sexual misconduct in the military has become secondary to the blame game. Who should be blamed for bungling the Vance file? If not Prime Minister Trudeau or Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, how about Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford. Last week, the Conservatives introduced a motion demanding that the PM fire her. They lost the vote, but the blame game plays on.

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/opinion/contributors/2021/05/10/they-really-love-playing-the-old-blame-game-on-parliament-hill.html

by Covert Tue 01 Jun 2021, 8:43 am

Allegations about Vance circulated at NATO HQ in 2014, but no police investigation was conducted: documents

The documents provide a rare view into how the senior leadership reacted when concerns were first raised about Vance.

David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jun 01, 2021

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/allegations-about-vance-circulated-at-nato-hq-in-2014-but-no-police-investigation-was-conducted-documents

by Cool~Way Sat 12 Jun 2021, 9:31 pm

Senior military leaders went golfing with Gen. Jonathan Vance amid military police probe

By Mercedes Stephenson & Amanda Connolly Global News
Posted June 12, 2021

https://globalnews.ca/news/7945195/canadian-forces-military-misconduct-vance-golfing/

by Sponsored content