Admiral Art McDonald has said he plans to return to his position as chief of the defence staff after a five-month investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct ended with no criminal charges against him — but Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said today the government has no immediate plans to put him back on the job.
McDonald stepped aside in January after only a month in the top job. CBC News has reported McDonald faced allegations linked to a female crew member and an incident aboard the warship HMCS Montreal a decade ago, during a northern exercise known as Operation Nanook.
“Now that he has been exonerated, it is appropriate for Admiral Art McDonald to return to his duties as [chief of defence staff],” his counsel Michael Edelson and Rory Fowler wrote in a media statement released today.
“Given that it was his decision to step aside, it is now his decision — indeed, obligation — to return to his duties.”
Today’s statement marked the first time McDonald has commented publicly on his case. His statement comes five days after the military said it had concluded an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against McDonald and that charges would not be laid.
Sajjan told reporters today that his “expectation” is that “Admiral McDonald will remain on leave while we review this situation.”
“The position of chief of defence staff must always uphold the highest standard within the Canadian armed forces,” he added.
WATCH: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan addresses Admiral Art McDonald’s future with the military
Sajjan: “Admiral McDonald will remain on leave”
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Defence minister counters Admiral Art McDonald’s claim today that he should return to head the military 0:58
Sajjan said that Canada and its military are “very well served” by acting chief of the defence staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre.
Government deciding on next steps
In a statement issued Friday night, the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal — who advises the chief of the defence staff on policing matters — said that the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service interviewed “a large number of potential witnesses” and the evidence “did not support the laying of any charges.”
When asked if McDonald would be replaced as chief of the defence staff, the Privy Council Office said it only learned the news on Friday and would be making a “determination” on next steps. The position of chief of the defence staff is a governor-in-council appointment — meaning the prime minister can dismiss the chief at any time.
McDonald’s lawyers said it was his decision to step aside. They said he stayed quiet in public and did “everything in his power to support and enable a fair process” while the allegation was investigated.
McDonald’s legal team said he was selected for the job of chief of the defence staff following “the most rigorous process ever concluded,” including psychometric screening and polygraph testing for inappropriate behaviour.
Retired Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance has been charged with one count of obstruction of justice following an investigation into claims of inappropriate behaviour with subordinates. Vance denies the allegations. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Critics say McDonald no longer fit to lead the military
Despite the decision of investigators to not pursue any charges, some military veterans say McDonald has proven himself unfit to lead the military as it grapples with a wider sexual misconduct crisis.
“It really didn’t seem to me to respect the the current climate in the armed forces,” said Leah West of McDonald’s response to the findings.
West served as an armoured officer for a decade and is now an assistant professor of international affairs at Carleton University. She says she was raped by a senior officer in 2008 and that the military tried to brush aside the assault.
“It was very defiant, very defensive, and to me did not reflect someone who understands what it’s going to take to be a leader of the Canadian forces.”
Lt.-Col. Eleanor Taylor — who resigned in March as reports of sexual misconduct began piling up — expressed her support for Lt. Heather MacDonald, who Global News has identified as the person at the centre of the McDonald investigation.
She tweeted that Canada needs a chief of the defence staff with “moral authority.”
Consider the courage it took for Lt(N) Heather MacDonald to report this behavior, the significance of what she has to lose and the dignified way she has handled herself. She, and the many others she represents, deserve a CDS with moral authority. <a href=”https://t.co/XXREqhcaAG”>https://t.co/XXREqhcaAG</a>
Military still not referring sexual assault investigations to police
McDonald replaced retired Gen. Jonathan Vance, who was also under investigation over allegations of inappropriate behaviour with subordinates and now faces a charge of obstruction of justice. Vance denies the allegations.
Vance is due in provincial court on Sept. 17.
The Liberal government has been accused by opposition parties of not doing enough to tackle the misconduct crisis.
CBC News reported yesterday the military has yet to hand over a single sexual assault investigation to civilian police. The move goes against a key recommendation of retired Supreme Court justice Morris Fish’s report in June, which urged the military to surrender control of sexual misconduct cases to civilian authorities until it reforms the way it deals with victims’ rights. The Liberal government said it accepts the report’s recommendations in principle and will act quickly.
But the Canadian Armed Forces recently rejected retired military member Stéphanie Viau’s request to ask the RCMP to investigate her rape allegation against Vice-Admiral Haydn Edmundson. The former head of the military’s HR is on leave with pay and said he denies the allegation.
The military has yet to say if it will consider taking administrative action against McDonald in lieu of criminal charges.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
