Letter to the Minister of National Defence about allegations of misconduct in the Canadian military

March 2, 2021

The Honourable Harjit Sajjan
Minister of National Defence
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa ON K1A 0K2
By email:  DND_MND@forces.gc.ca

Dear Minister Sajjan,

I am writing today regarding recent allegations of misconduct at the very highest level of the Canadian military. As you know, these are not the first such charges involving current or former Chiefs of the Defence Staff (CDS) to become public over the past few years.

While these allegations are currently being looked into from a military leadership perspective, little if any mention has been made about the needs of the over 25,000 public service employees who support the Forces on a daily basis. I am sure you recognize that their confidence in Department of National Defense (DND) leadership has been seriously eroded by these recurring events. If CDS themselves are not held accountable to departmental Sexual, Violence or Harassment policies, it is fair to ask how DND employees can expect fair hearings when they bring such cases forward.

The damage caused by these incidents to their morale and confidence is such that I urge you to immediately issue a statement of support for our 5000 members employed by the Department. Please be assured that we are ready to work with your office towards the development and implementation of a detailed, transparent roadmap outlining how DND plans to restore our members’ faith in their senior leadership.

I thank you for your immediate attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau,
President, PIPSC