Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin is expected to attend the two-day trial in a Gatineau court dressed in his military uniform and medals. Fortin has pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge, which relates to an incident that allegedly took place between January 1 and April 30, 1988, when Fortin was a student at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. A Quebec judge is hearing the case without a jury at Fortin’s request. Trials by judges alone tend to be faster. Wearing his uniform and with his wife by his side, Fortin gave an emotional statement to reporters outside the police station in Gatineau on the day he was charged in 2021. Fortin told reporters his family had living through a “nightmare.” Fortin also claimed that the federal government removed him from his high-profile job to launch the vaccine in the spring of 2021 because of “political calculations” when the military’s ongoing sexual harassment crisis dominated headlines last year. Canada’s military has been rocked by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct. Since February 2021, more than a dozen current and former senior Canadian military leaders have been sidelined, investigated, criminally charged or forced to retire from some of the most powerful and prominent positions in the defense establishment. Former Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance pleaded guilty in March to one count of obstruction of justice. Vice Admiral Haydn Edmundson’s criminal trial is set for August 2023. Edmundson, the former Army chief of human resources, is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of committing an indecent act — allegations Edmundson denies. MEDIA/ Military commander accused of sexual assault says he’s living a ‘nightmare’
Dany Fortin accused of sexual assault, says he’s living a ‘nightmare’
Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin speaks to the media outside a police station in Gatineau, Que., about a sexual assault charge he is facing. He has denied any wrongdoing. Fortin has served in the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 36 years and has argued that his reputation has been “irreparably tarnished” by the government’s handling of his case. Fortin gained national attention during the pandemic while appearing regularly on the government’s televised COVID-19 briefings alongside top ministers and health officials. In May 2021, the Department of National Defense (DND) issued a brief public statement announcing that Fortin was leaving his position with the Public Health Service of Canada. the statement did not say why. CBC News confirmed that day that Fortin was the subject of a military investigation to report sexual misconduct. The following week, a military police department said it had referred Fortin’s case to the public prosecutors of Quebec. Fortin was indicted about three months later on one count of sexual assault. Prior to the criminal charge, Fortin unleashed a legal battle in Federal Court in 2021 to demand a job according to his rank and experience, arguing politicians improperly meddling in his case. Chief of Defense Staff General Wayne Eyre’s notebook, which was submitted to the Federal Court, described weeks of heated discussions at the highest levels of government about how to handle the charge against Fortin. Federal government lawyers told the Federal Court last year that Canadian officials had concerns that the public could lose confidence in the vaccine’s release in Canada if they discovered Fortin was under investigation for sexual assault allegations. However, there was never any political interference in the decision to remove him from his role, according to the government’s legal team. Maj. Gen. Danny Fortin regularly sat next to Director of Public Health Dr. Theresa Tam and federal ministers in Parliament to provide updates on the COVID-19 pandemic. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) The Federal Court ruled last year that the military’s grievance procedure was the appropriate avenue for dealing with Fortin’s claim, and said he had not taken full advantage of that mechanism. Fortin’s attorneys since appealed the decision, arguing that the military’s grievance procedure is the wrong venue because it takes too long to process cases. CBC News reported last year that some military members have been waiting nearly a decade to see their grievances resolved. That appeal is set for the Federal Court of Appeals on Oct. 5, according to Fortin’s legal team. Fortin has been temporarily appointed to the position of senior adviser to the commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command in Ottawa. Fortin’s lawyers have argued that he is sitting at home and not being assigned any work.
