Newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance has issued his first order in an all-staff memo today initiating “Operation Honour” in response to the problem of sexual assault and harassment in the military.

“While I recognize commanders at all levels have already begun to take action, providing initial guidance to their organizations, I will sign a CDS Operation Order shortly that will direct our collective actions. I see this as an operation and have chosen the name Operation Honour,” wrote Vance in his memo.

“The CAF have never failed on operations in the past, and we shall not fail now.”

The move comes less than a week after Vance was sworn in to the job and adds heft to his promise to immediately weed out the bullies and abusers.

In his memo, Vance recommends that anyone in need of immediate assistance should call 911 – a somewhat odd suggestion since normally military police, not civilian, would be the first ones called. Also, many sexual harassment victims are reluctant to involve police.

This comes months after a report was conducted by former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps (the Deschamps Report) was released, revealing the “misogynistic” culture of the Canadian Armed Forces in which sexual harassment is “endemic”.

Vance’s predecessor, General (retired) Tom Lawson, ordered the review, but his comments after the report came out – that sexual harassment in the Forces is “biologically wired” – left the impression that the issue wasn’t being taken seriously.

He has since retracted those comments and apologized, saying “In view of the prevalence of this issue (sexual harassment) being a societal problem, my unhelpful comments were a conjecture that really did serve no purpose and, in fact, clouded the very strong efforts that we have going forward.”

In today’s memo, Vance announces his intent to see all of the ten recommendations implemented “as rapidly and as effectively as possible”.

“We face adversaries and danger every day, and there are many who would do us harm. It is therefore abhorrent to me that anyone would mistreat another by bringing harm or the fear of harm through assault or harassment,” said Vance in the memo.

“I lament the fact that there exist within our ranks those that would bully, degrade or assault others, especially another member of the CAF or a member of the Defence Team. Moreover, to attack the dignity of any member by sexual assault and harassment serves only to weaken our force when we need to be strong, and serves to make some feel less worthwhile when we know that everybody is important.”

While no timeline has been set, Vance does say in the memo that he has summoned all of the general and flag officers, and his commanders, to a one-day seminar to lay out future plans some time in August.

@Claire_Wahlen

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