Watchdog questions if military police will fix problems of Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin investigation

A retired general and a military watchdog are questioning whether the Canadian Forces is committed to making changes in the wake of a scathing report on a bungled investigation that cost the senior officer his career.

The recent report from the Military Police Complaints Commission found that the investigation that led to Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin being charged with sexual assault was mismanaged from the beginning, with failures so bad they undermine public confidence.

Fortin was charged in 2021 after allegations were raised he sexually assaulted a fellow military student in 1988 at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Que. But the senior officer was acquitted Dec. 5, 2022, by Quebec judge Richard Meredith, who ruled that he was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Fortin was the assailant.

The Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) report revealed that in the Fortin case, officers with the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) didn’t even follow basic police procedures such as recording key interviews. MPCC chairperson Tammy Tremblay determined the investigation was “compromised by tunnel vision, exhibited signs of investigative bias, inadequate supervisory oversight, and a failure to uphold core investigative standards.”

“These shortcomings are not mere administrative oversights; they represent significant failures that erode public trust in military policing,” Tremblay’s Dec. 9 report pointed out.

Tremblay outlined 16 recommendations on how Provost Marshal Brig.-Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan could strengthen military police operations.

But the response from the provost marshal to the recommendations were “laconic and lacked the clarity or detail necessary to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to implement them, raising concerns about the organization’s commitment to meaningful change,” according to Tremblay.

Of the 16 recommendations, Tremblay considered that only three were fully accepted by the provost marshal, 10 were partially accepted, and three were not accepted at all.

Fortin, in a statement to the Ottawa Citizen, called the MPCC report “a stunning indictment of military police professional competence.”

He slammed Hanrahan’s response. “A true learning institution would accept responsibility for known, identified shortcomings and implement corrective measures without delay,” Fortin stated. “I had, perhaps naively, hoped my experience might at least lead to military police and institutional reform.”

Hanrahan, in an email to the Ottawa Citizen, stated that when concerns arise, the office of the provost marshal addresses issues “through a robust accountability framework.”

“Members of the Military Police are held to high standards of professionalism and integrity,” she added.

In some cases, action has already been taken in regard to the recommendations or existing policies already address the issues, her emailed statement noted.

“In addition, when a decision is made to take no action in response to a recommendation made by MPCC, the MP (military police) must, by law, provide justification in writing to MPCC on why this is the case,” Hanrahan said in the email. “This differs from ‘no identifiable action to be taken’. “

The CFNIS and military police have faced increasing criticism of widespread incompetence and bungling of investigations.

In January, an Ontario Superior Court judge stayed assault and sexual assault charges against a Canadian Forces member after determining that military police had tampered with evidence and showed bias in their investigation. Ontario Superior Court Justice Cynthia Petersen noted in her written decision that the misconduct by the CFNIS “in this case is so egregious and systemic that it shocks the community’s conscience.”

In June, the MPCC issued a report that painted Canada’s military police leadership as shutting down complaints, ignoring parliamentary-mandated civilian oversight and mismanaging investigations to the point where a criminal convicted of attempted murder almost went free.

The report outlined a deteriorating situation in which the Office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal has been resisting independent oversight. “The situation escalated from resistance to outright refusal to respect the oversight regime mandated by Parliament,” Tremblay wrote in her annual report released June 17.

At times the office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, or CFPM, has shut down complaints into police actions before they could be heard, the MPCC report noted. The CFPM has also refused to provide information needed for the commission to carry out its oversight function and has declined to follow recommendations on improving how it functions, according to the report. Among the recommendations the CFPM refused to accept was a request to remind military police officers of the importance of keeping evidence on file.

Tremblay warned that continued refusal to accept civilian oversight would only harm military police in the end as public trust in the institution would be eroded.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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