Ottawa-The Federal Conservative Party is targeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief aide as it is putting pressure on the government to handle sexual misconduct complaints against General Jonathan Vance.
The Tories on Friday submitted a motion calling on Trudeau to dismiss Prime Minister Katie Telford. It was after another adviser to the prime minister suggested he knew about the allegations against Vance three years ago.
Telford told reporters and MPs last week that no one in his office or Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office knew that the allegations against Vance were of sexual nature. Defended Ford.
This suggests the testimony of Gary Wolborn, the then military ombudsman who first flagged the allegations against Sajan in March 2018, and what officials at both offices knew. It seemed to be inconsistent with the document.
Walbourne testified two months ago that he had filed a complaint with Sajjan related to “inappropriate sexual behavior.”
The conservative move is one of three moves that can be chosen to vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, preparing to resume discussions on whether the Commons Defense Commission will call Telford to testify. It is done when you are.
Liberty Commission members spoke the clock on Friday to thwart opposition attempts to make Telford appear to answer the question.
The Tories, which regularly announce several motions but have only one choice, condemn Iran’s women’s committee’s election to UN status or criticize a bill that forces the government to regulate social media content. You can also ask the Diet members to do so.
Opposition has more seats than the Liberal Party, so anyone can pass, but such motions are symbolic and do not bind the government.
Telford has been Trudeau’s most senior staff member since he took office in 2015.
The Prime Minister lost his other most credible adviser, Gerald Butts, after resigning in the SNC-Lavalin case in February 2019.
Meanwhile, Sajan avoided repeated questions as to whether he knew the nature of his complaint against Vance when he appeared on various political talk shows on television on Sunday.
“It doesn’t matter what the complaint really was. A complaint was raised about the person responsible for the defense staff. At that time, all we had to do was take immediate action so that we could investigate properly. That was, “he said during the CTV question period.
“There wasn’t much detail about it,” the minister said in the Global News, which first reported on his allegations against Vance in February.
However, a document obtained by Global under access to information law mentions “sexual harassment” in an internal email on the same day that his office asked civil servants to open an investigation. I showed that.
The nature of the complaint reported by Walbourne has not been confirmed, but Global News allegedly was sent to a service member who had significantly increased ranks in 2012 before Vance became commander of the Canadian Army. Reported to include emails.
Vance has not responded to requests for comment from the Canadian Press, but Global has reported that he has denied cheating. He resigned as Chief of Defense in January and then retired from the army.
By Lee Berthiaume