Canada’s military has a crisis of leadership. It needs more than symbolic change at the top

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/10/2021 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

So, another one bites the dust. This week it’s the turn of Lt.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu, who was scheduled to become commander of Canada’s land forces (a.k.a. the army) on Sept. 7.

Now, it turns out, all that is on ice while Cadieu is investigated by military police regarding allegations that reportedly involve sexual misconduct. Cadieu says the allegations are false, but he’s effectively taken himself out of the running for the army’s top job. He says Canada’s soldiers “deserve a leader who is unencumbered by allegations.”

Got that right. But this latest episode is more proof (not that any is needed) that the leadership of Canada’s military is in crisis. All this year we’ve witnessed a parade of senior officers toppled or forced aside, starting with the former chief of the defence staff, Jonathan Vance, over issues connected with misconduct and how to handle them.

Even the government has lost patience, or so it says. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seemed exasperated last week when he let fly at senior military commanders after it was revealed that a general, who had provided a character reference for a soldier convicted of sexual assault, had been assigned to work on changing the forces’ culture around sexual misconduct. “They simply still don’t get it,” he said.

That would be fine coming from an opposition party or, say, an editorial board. But Trudeau heads a government that has fumbled this issue since it was first sworn in back in 2015. At that point it inherited a fresh report by a former Supreme Court justice containing a blueprint on how to confront the deeply rooted problems of misconduct inside the Canadian Forces.

Six years and two federal elections later, a re-elected Trudeau government is still grappling with the issue and the credibility of Canada’s military has taken an enormous hit.

The first step toward repairing the situation must come when the prime minister announces his new cabinet. It will be both astonishing and unacceptable if the man who has been defence minister since 2015, Harjit Sajjan, remains in that position.

Even in normal circumstances, Sajjan and the military would be due for a change. After all, he’s the longest-serving defence minister in modern times. But these are anything but normal times for the Forces, and sexual misconduct is not the only area where Sajjan has fallen short.

During his tenure, for example, Canada’s contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations shrunk to almost nothing. Sajjan promised in 2017 to deliver on a “quick reaction force” for the UN, but four years later there’s no sign of that.

At this point it’s pretty much taken for granted that Trudeau will name a new defence minister, and there’s active speculation that he will choose a woman (the first since Kim Campbell held that post for six months back in 1993).

That would align with Trudeau’s penchant for symbolic moves, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But at this point Canada’s military needs a lot more than symbolism. Whoever succeeds Sajjan in the defence portfolio, woman or man, will have to make real, substantive change — and quickly.

The Deschamps report from 2015 already pointed the way forward. It recommended setting up an independent oversight system to deal with sexual misconduct in the Forces. Under Sajjan the military managed to put off acting on that recommendation; a new minister must put an end to the foot-dragging.

Just as important, a new minister must make sure Canada’s military leaders stop scoring own goals in this area. No more golf games with senior officers under investigation, or questionable appointments that must be rescinded as soon as they become public.

Both civilian and military leadership have failed Canadians, and the men and women serving in the Canadian Forces. It’s time to turn the page.