Former military ombudsman says he told Sajjan about sexual misconduct allegations against Vance in 2018

National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance listen to a question during a news conference Friday, June 26, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldA former military ombudsman says he told Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan three years ago about an allegation of inappropriate sexual behaviour against then-chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance.

The former ombudsman said he explained to Mr. Sajjan during their meeting that the individual came forward after the ombudsman ensured confidentiality. Mr. Walbourne said he told the minister that the complaint was not formal and that his request of Mr. Sajjan was to get back to him on how to proceed.

Mr. Sajjan said in a statement that he disagrees with parts of Mr. Walbourne’s testimony, but did not specify which parts. Regarding the probe against him, Mr. Walbourne testified that after publicly raising issues about the independence of his office, a senior member of his department made allegations against him, relating to discriminatory hiring practices. He said the allegations were “a hit job,” which led to the investigation.

Mr. Walbourne said he could not investigate because he was not authorized to do so by the victim and that Mr. Sajjan “holds many powers under the National Defence Act and has levers he can pull far far above my pay grade.”“I went to the minister as his direct report, looking for advice and guidance on what to do next. I felt that this was a very major, major issue. When we’re talking about the chief of defence staff, who else should I speak to?” said Mr. Walbourne.

Global News first reported that Mr. Vance is facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour with two female subordinates, while he was defence chief. Mr. Vance has denied those allegations and The Globe and Mail has not verified them. Adm. McDonald has not commented on the allegations against him.

r_garrison Why do you trust Gary Walbourne at all?

lizrenzetti Elizabeth as a journalist you should look into this before retweeting. Fact his accusation, but his motivations need to be explored before accepted. Records have come out supporting his anti-liberal bias e.g. only difference between Trump and Trudeau is that Trudeau smiles!

Who cares?!! It's not like Canada has a real Military !!!

Will anything happen,doubt it

lizrenzetti This guy, intetesting how long serving service member quickly dismessed despite years of service, honourable service, including on gang task force, over a guy appointed by cpc, donated to cpc, and bitter.

globepolitics Sajjan might not have found the behaviour to be a case of misconduct. Perspective.

globepolitics theArchitect viceadmiralNorman nonotes Trudeau government. PleaseGoNOW. Take partisan WEbuds

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