NATO role goes unfilled after Canadian general pulled because of affair with co-worker Lt.-Gen. Chris Coates was to have become deputy commander of Joint Force Command in Naples, but Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan halted that assignment. Author of the article: David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen Publishing date: Mar 02, 2021 • March 2, 2021 • 3 minute read Lt. Gen. Chris Coates Photo by NORAD /jpg Article content The Canadian Forces has yet to find an officer to fill a top NATO job after the general selected for the assignment was dropped at the last minute because of an affair he had with a co-worker. Lt.-Gen. Chris Coates was to have become deputy commander of Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, but Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan put a halt to that assignment. Sajjan told this newspaper he made his decision after being recently told that Coates had an affair with a U.S. civilian co-worker while he was deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado.