The Canadian Military’s Sexual Misconduct Crisis Explained
Why the Canadian military is embroiled in another moment of reckoning. Zi-Ann Lum Updated
May 12, 2021
The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence in Ottawa. (Photo: The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld)
The Canadian military is embroiled in another moment of reckoning. Separate allegations of sexual misconduct against former chief of defence staff General Jonathan Vance and his successor, Admiral Art McDonald, have spurred a controversy that is testing the armed forces’ commitment to eradicating sexual harassment and violence and the federal government’s “feminist approach” to policy. (Vance has denied the allegations and McDonald has not commented publicly, citing an ongoing investigation.)