False document used to smear whistleblowing officer
OTTAWA — A leaked Royal Canadian Navy document is being used to smear the military officer who reported sexual misconduct allegations against the chief of the defence staff.
The Canadian Forces document was mailed anonymously to Postmedia News with the claim that it showed Lt. Cmdr. Raymond Trotter was convicted of sexual assault in British Columbia in 2018.
But a check of provincial court records shows that is false and defence officials confirm that Trotter was only referred to in the Canadian Forces document as he was the point of contact for the unit in which a sailor was convicted of sexual assault.
Trotter testified in March in front of a Commons defence committee about his decision to report allegations of sexual misconduct against Chief of the Defence Staff Adm. Art Mcdonald. As a result, Mcdonald was put under military police investigation and temporarily stepped aside from the top defence job.
Trotter, who serves at CFB Esquimalt, B.C., acknowledged in testimony before the committee that his decision to make a complaint, on behalf of one of his subordinates, could harm his military career. In addition, Trotter received a threat for coming forward but he declined to discuss that with the committee.
The document used in the attempt to smear Trotter was a Significant Incident Report from November 2018 outlining a sexual assault against a civilian that took place in Esquimalt. The report had been sent from CFB Esquimalt to Royal Canadian Navy headquarters in Ottawa as well as to the defence department’s assistant deputy minister for public affairs, also in Ottawa.
The report noted that a sexual assault against a civilian had taken place in 2017 and had resulted in a six-month conditional sentence in a provincial court for a member of the navy.
Department of National Defence officials confirmed the document sent to this newspaper is authentic but noted it is not about Trotter. “We can confirm that the Significant Incident Report in question was not about Lt. Cmdr. Trotter,” said DND spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier.
Le Bouthillier said that a reprisal against a military member is considered an offence under military regulations.
“Any attempt to discredit a member is reprehensible and lacking in both morality and professional conduct,” he added.
It is not known how many individuals would have had access to the Canadian Forces document.
“It’s disheartening to see and to hear about,” Trotter told Postmedia News after being told about the anonymous claims. “It’s causing stress but ultimately I have to understand what I had to endure for the benefit of my subordinates was correct. I have to be prepared for these things, professionally and personally.”
Victims of sexual misconduct and those reporting such incidents have told the Commons committee that retaliation for coming forward with complaints is a common occurrence in the military. Some have had their reputations destroyed and their careers halted.
During their Commons testimony, DND Deputy Minister Jody Thomas and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan expressed surprise that complainants don’t trust the military system and are reluctant to come forward. Critics say those statements show how out of touch both are with how the department and military operate.
Trotter testified to the committee that, after filing a second incident of sexual misconduct involving an unnamed senior naval officer, his complaint was minimized and he was berated for coming forward.