DND tried to block veteran’s right to request government records

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The Canadian Forces tried to strip a veteran of his right to request government information after he filed a grievance linked to his military training and raised concerns about alleged sexual assault and other illegal acts in special forces units.

Documents shared with the Ottawa Citizen show Department of National Defence and Canadian military officials tried on two occasions in the fall of 2022 to remove the right of retired Cpl. Daniel Abboud to use the federal Access to Information Act to obtain government records.

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Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard declined both requests to brand Abboud a “vexatious requester.” If DND had succeeded, the move would prevent the retired corporal from requesting the federal documents he sought and allow military officers and department bureaucrats the final decision on whether they responded to his future requests for records.

Maynard concluded that Abboud, a former member of Canadian special operations forces, did not abuse the federal system and his requests for information were valid.

The law allows any Canadian to pay $5 to make an application to receive federal documents held by a department or agency.

Abboud was trying to get records directly related to the grievance he had filed with the Canadian Forces as well as reports outlining some of the illegal acts he alleged Canadian special forces personnel in Ottawa and Petawawa had been involved in, according to National Defence documents.

Abboud had also tried earlier in January 2022 to raise his concerns in a letter to then-defence minister Anita Anand, warning that Canadian Special Operations Forces Command or CANSOFCOM “was a ticking timebomb.” He told the defence minister the command was similar to the disgraced Canadian Airborne Regiment, which was disbanded in 1995 over allegations of criminal conduct in Somalia.

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“CANSOFCOM is on a path of self-destruction due to a culture of fraternal exclusivity and the tendency for units to sweep problems under the rug, ignore misconduct and eliminate people who are a threat to the ‘boys club’ culture,” Abboud wrote to the minister.

Maj.-Gen. Steve Hunter, head of CANSOFCOM, did not respond to a request for comment.

DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin stated in an email that the military and department can’t comment on specific cases. “The Canadian Armed Forces, including Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, takes any allegations of misconduct or criminal behaviour extremely seriously, and invites anyone with information of such cases to bring it forward for appropriate investigation,” she said.

The government documents outline the significant efforts by senior leaders in the defence department’s access-to-information branch as well as CANSOFCOM to deny Abboud his rights to request federal records.

“I think that it is alarming they used so much of their resources to do this,” Abboud said in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen. He obtained the records using the privacy law.

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Anne Bank, the director of the department’s access-to-information branch, did not respond to a request for comment.

But in an Oct. 11, 2022 briefing note, Bank acknowledged that the efforts against Abboud could be seen as the department “punishing” him and could prompt questions for the minister of national defence. The note was prepared for Joanne Lostracco, then the department’s corporate secretary.

Bank also acknowledged that Abboud’s requests submitted under the access law had not been “excessively burdensome” for either CANSOFCOM or the department to process.

Leslie Larabie, the chief of operations for the department’s access-to-information branch, pointed out that the department’s actions to strip Abboud of his rights “could be seen as an attempt to deny access to a requester for emotionally-based reasons as opposed to logical ones.”

Despite that, the access officials continued with their initiative to stop Abboud from filing any more requests for information.

Department official Pat Hodges noted in an Oct. 11, 2022 email to Banks that if they succeeded in their efforts “we will potentially stop this requester from continuing a pattern of attempted intimidation directed at CANSOFCOM.”

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CANSOFCOM leadership and access branch officials viewed Abboud’s attempts to access documents as part of his efforts to get a favourable finding from military leaders on his grievance. He filed that grievance in February 2020 and it had to do with his participation in special forces training at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.

But Abboud pointed out in his response to access watchdog Caroline Maynard that his grievance was in the hands of an external review committee and CANSOFCOM had no role in deciding the outcome. His grievance was denied in May 2024.

Abboud also pointed out to Maynard that the information he was trying to obtain about various allegations of illegal behaviour was in the public interest. Besides reports on racism and sexual assault in the special forces units, Abboud was seeking records on CANSOFCOM training of African troops who were later involved in overthrowing democratically-elected governments.

Abboud, before retiring from the Canadian military in July 2022, had served with the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. He was deployed to Iraq for the Operation Impact mission and was considered “a shining star” and the squadron’s “best door gunner” according to the DND records.

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“I served in the military to uphold democratic values, and access to information is a cornerstone of democracy,” he told the Ottawa Citizen. “Consciously making frivolous attempts to deny information access is in clear violation of the spirit of the (Access to Information) Act.”

Before leaving the military, Abboud sent emails to senior CANSOFCOM leaders warning of a toxic culture in the units as well as violations of established rules that govern the use of force on special forces missions.

Other Canadian special forces personnel have come forward with similar allegations.

In October 2024, a former member of Joint Task Force Two, the Ottawa-based counter terrorism unit, filed a lawsuit alleging he faced retaliation from military leaders after he spoke out about Canadian troops’ alleged involvement in killing unarmed people in Afghanistan.

DND has declined to comment, noting the case is before the courts.

In 2019, the Ottawa Citizen reported that the Canadian military had been warned about a “culture” of stealing within its special forces after equipment, including gun parts and ammunition, was taken from the JTF2 base in Ottawa.

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Those reports were part of a case in Ontario court in which Cpl. Pedro Collier, a special forces member, was found guilty of possession of stolen property exceeding $5,000 and possession of a prohibited device. The court found Collier took approximately $23,000 worth of equipment from the special forces.

The agreed statement of facts from that court case pointed to allegations of a larger problem of theft at the special forces command.

“Mr. Collier informed police that there was a prevalent culture within CANSOFCOM of simply taking items from the employer,” the statement said.

Those who contacted the Ottawa Citizen about the Collier case alleged that Canadian Forces leaders did little to prevent the thefts and military police failed to properly investigate such incidents.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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