Military culture can silence victims: expert
West said she was sexually assaulted by a senior ranking officer, who was beloved in my unit, during a house party in 2008.
When she needed medical attention in the days that followed, she felt pressured to disclose that she had been assaulted.
Soon after, she said, her commanding officer called her into his office, and asked: What do you want me to do about this?
West said she couldn t imagine asking her boss to pursue allegations, or what might happen to her if he did. At the time, she felt the assault was in some way her fault.
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OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff has offered to testify at a House of Commons committee investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Canada’s former top military commander.
Katie Telford wrote members of the defence committee Thursday, offering to testify at their meeting Friday.
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Opposition parties have been demanding she appear to explain an apparent discrepancy between Trudeau’s assertion that his office did not know a complaint against general Jonathan Vance involved sexual misconduct and other testimony and emails suggesting that it did know.
PM s chief of staff Katie Telford prepared to testify Friday: PMO theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
OTTAWA The prime minister’s chief of staff says she was given no information about a complaint levied at the former defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance in March 2018 and was told there was “no safety issue” at hand. Katie Telford is appearing before the House of Commons’ defence committee Friday, as members seek to pin down who knew what and when about the allegation that was brought to light by former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne. She said the defence minister’s office contacted her office after Walbourne reported the allegation to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, seeking advice on where to direct it. In a conversation with the clerk of the Privy Council Office (PCO), he said it was the PCO not politicians that should follow up given it dealt with a governor-in-council appointment.
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Faced with the intransigent problem of sexual misconduct and sexual violence in the Armed Forces, Canada has turned to a time-honoured tradition: it will commission a report. Cue the collective sigh.
It should be no surprise Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s announcement was greeted with frustration. The independent review, by respected former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, comes just six years after another independent review, by another respected former Supreme Court justice.
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