Maj. Kellie Brennan is set to testify Thursday night as part of a parliamentary probe into what needs to be done to change the culture within the Canadian Armed Forces to prevent sexual misconduct.
Brennan is one of the women at the heart of allegations first reported by Global News in February about former chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance. Vance denies the allegations.
Military police have since opened an investigation into the allegations, and are also investigating a separate allegation against Vance’s successor, Adm. Art McDonald.
Brennan was the first woman to come forward publicly to share her story but since she did so, multiple other women, including both current and former serving members in the military, have broken their silence to sound the alarm over the extent to which sexual misconduct permeates its ranks.
IN HER WORDS: One of the women behind Vance allegations tells her story
She is scheduled to testify at 7:30 p.m. ET before the House of Commons status of women committee, which is focusing on what measures are needed to change the military culture.
Former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps described that culture as “sexualized,” “hostile” and “endemic” throughout the ranks of the Canadian Forces in her landmark 2015 report into military misconduct.
That report focused as well on the crucial question of what it means to consent within the rigid power imbalances of the military’s hierarchical chain of command structure.
Brennan told Global News in February that challenge is one she has personally experienced throughout what she has described as a longstanding sexual relationship with Vance that she says continued while he was her superior and while he was chief of the defence staff.
“On a personal level, ‘consensual’ meaning was I participating in it? Yes. Could I say no to him? No,” Brennan said. “The reason why I say that is because if he rang me on the phone or if he texted me, I was obliged to get back to him.”
Vance has said there was no sexual relationship with Brennan after 2001, when the pair briefly dated.
He says he has served as a “supporter” for Brennan, and that the two are “colleagues and friends.”
IN HER WORDS: The woman behind 2018 Vance allegation tells her story
Brennan has emphasized that she does not believe the military can solve the problem of sexual misconduct on its own, and that women must be able to speak openly about their experiences.
She is set to be accompanied before the committee by retired lieutenant-general Christine Whitecross, who was Canada’s top female military officer until her retirement in December 2020. Whitecross served as the first female head of the NATO Defense College in Rome and has played a central role in the military’s efforts to roll out Operation Honour and initiatives to tackle sexual misconduct.
Their testimony comes as the government remains under heavy criticism for its handling of military misconduct and its lack of details on any plans for how to address the problem.
It has now been nearly three months since officials promised an independent review of the matter following Global News reporting on Feb. 2, and despite repeated promises from cabinet ministers that details are coming shortly on plans for change, none have emerged.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided no further clarity when pressed on his government’s response by Global News on Wednesday night, saying the government has handled all allegations appropriately.
“We need to make sure we’re changing the culture of the military but we also need to make sure we’re providing resources,” he said, adding that those coming forward must receive support.
“This is something we’ve seen the military just not do well enough in the past.”
MPs from his party voted last week to shut down the defence committee probe into the allegations, which has heard damning testimony about the government’s failure to fully probe an allegation shared by the then-military ombudsman with the defence minister in 2018.
Harjit Sajjan has said he referred the allegation to the Privy Council Office, which promptly abandoned the probe when the ombudsman refused to share information requested by bureaucrats and which the complainant had asked be kept confidential.
In an interview with Global News, the woman behind the 2018 complaint said she went to the ombudsman specifically because she wanted to remain anonymous — and because she knew the complaint would be shared with Sajjan directly.
“My intent was never to make this public or widely known. It was for the minister to deal with at an appropriate time and perhaps reconsider how Operation Honour was commanded,” she said, describing the initiative as valuable and important.
“And when the time for decisions about, you know, extension of mandate for the chief of defence staff or future roles, that this could be factored into that decision making.
“I wanted it to be brought forward to an individual who reported direct to the minister, so the minister’s accountability could be reflected in that.”
