Roundup: Taking a culture change seriously?

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So much of the discourse yesterday – aside from the AstraZeneca vaccine – was around Admiral Art McDonald stepping aside while he is the subject of an investigation into sexual misconduct dating back to 2010. In particular, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and defence minister Harjit Sajjan were asked repeatedly whether they knew anything about this investigation or the allegations behind it before they appointed McDonald to the post of Chief of Defence Staff. (For the record, both Trudeau and Sajjan say they weren’t aware until it was reported in the media).

Trudeau says that it’s a good sign that McDonald stepped aside because it shows how serious this is being taken, and wants those who have experienced said misconduct to know that they will be heard and listened to. Erin O’Toole says that there should be a freeze on all promotions and salary increases for senior leadership in the military until an independent investigation can look into how the Forces have handled the problem of sexual misconduct.

Of course, the bigger problem is likely military culture and the structure of leadership, and there are concerns that Operation Honour is failing because it hasn’t tried to understand why sexual misconduct happens in the first place, and that it’s the broader military culture that needs to be changed. There are also particular calls for a fully independent oversight body to deal with the culture – and one that has actual teeth to it – but even though this was a recommendation in the Deschamps Report, the government didn’t go ahead with it. It remains a question whether the government will get over itself and finally create that independent oversight to finally deal with the problem, but they’ve been dragging their heels on other long-overdue independent oversight, especially over bodies like the CBSA, which has no oversight at all. But the fact that two Chiefs of Defence Staff in a row are under investigation should be a wake-up call as to the broader problems with the Forces, and maybe this government should finally take it more seriously than the half-measures they have taken to date.

Good reads:

  • Health Canada has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine, and we will be getting doses from India, the US, and South Korea (which are our COVAX doses).
  • The Conservatives are up in arms because the Senate amendment on adding mental health to the assisted dying bill wasn’t discussed in the Commons prior.
  • The US Secretary of State says that science will dictate the timing of when the border will re-open.
  • The CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board stepped down after it was revealed he went to the United Arab Emirates for a COVID vaccine.
  • A former WE Charity American board member testified before committee that the charity would swap plaques at the same school for different donor groups.
  • Erin O’Toole spent $3.69 million on his leadership campaign, but raised $3.7 million, so wound up with a surplus.
  • Adnan Khan recounts what happened when Turkey declared a genocide against the Uyghurs in 2009, and how China applied its might to their trade market at the time.
  • Kevin Carmichael points out that corporate Canada probably doesn’t know how to deal with the low-grade PTSD most Canadians will be suffering thanks to COVID.
  • Paul Wells shrugs at the resignation of the CPPIB CEO after he went to the UAE for a vaccine, noting that there are more important things to be outraged about.
  • My weekend column looks at how “Green Lantern Theory” is infiltrating Canadian political discourse, distorting the perceptions of what a prime minister is able to do.

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