A white Canadian Forces reservist who targeted black soldiers with racial abuse won’t face any disciplinary measures because the young man felt stressed out during his military training, says an army general.

The fact the 17-year-old reservist’s father is a senior officer in the army reserve doesn’t have anything to do with the decision not to formally punish the soldier, according to Brig.-Gen. Jocelyn Paul, who commands the 4th Canadian Division, which is responsible for army operations in Ontario.

Postmedia reported in October the white reservist in the Toronto-area unit called black soldiers “n…ers” on several occasions earlier this year. In addition, the Postmedia report revealed that Paul, in an unprecedented move, removed one reserve-unit commanding officer, temporarily suspended another and accepted the resignation of a third. Those removals, and the racial incidents, are unrelated as they affect different reserve units in Ontario.

Sources told Postmedia that in one of the cases the commanding officer was doing squats with a female on his shoulders during a Christmas party at a military installation as his soldiers took photographs.

In the case of the three racial incidents, the decision was made not to punish the white reserve soldier and instead the issue was dealt with on an administrative level, Paul said in an interview. He noted the soldier, undergoing basic training, was “under a lot of pressure and he used words that were totally unprofessional. It’s a case-by-case assessment. The youth has been mentored.”

The presiding officer, I’m told, was not influenced by the dad in question

Paul acknowledged the soldier’s father is a senior reserve soldier but said that had nothing to do with the decision not to discipline. The officer who examined the case and made the decision did not feel any pressure, Paul added.

“The presiding officer, I’m told, was not influenced by the dad in question,” the brigadier general explained. “I do understand that people may feel or perceive there was undue influence but based on what I’m tracking that was not the case.”

Soldiers came to Postmedia with their concerns that the racism incidents were not only being tolerated but covered up by the army leadership.

The racial abuse also caught the attention of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan who, after receiving a complaint from the mother of the soldier under investigation, inquired about the incidents. Asked why he raised concerns about the fairness of the treatment of the accused soldier, rather than the welfare of the victims, Sajjan’s office issued a statement that he couldn’t discuss the situation because of privacy issues.

“We have zero tolerance for racism or any kind of discriminatory behaviour within our Canadian Armed Forces,” noted the statement. “Racist attitudes are completely unacceptable and run contrary to CAF values and effective military service.”

The white soldier and the two black soldiers are still serving together and Paul said the situation is being closely monitored.

When originally asked in September about the racial incidents, army spokesman Lt.-Col. Andre Salloum claimed further comment couldn’t be provided “because there is an investigation underway.”

But Paul, who assumed command of the division in late June, said he didn’t know about the incidents until after Postmedia published its report. When that appeared, he asked his staff to examine whether the proper procedures were followed. He said he is confident the right course of action was taken.

Paul also provided more details about the resignation of one of his reserve commanding officers, after Postmedia asked him about the incident, after a mess dinner in late 2017. During that incident, a civilian female guest sat on the shoulders of the commanding officer while he did squats. Soldiers said the woman was not wearing any underwear. A complaint was filed in early 2018.

“There was a lady involved,” Paul explained. “There was some misbehaviour. There were some photographs taken.”

In a separate statement to Postmedia, the Army says the woman was wearing a cocktail dress but “did not feel her sexual integrity was violated.”

There was some misbehaviour. There were some photographs taken

The commanding officer offered his resignation, noting “that his actions that night were unprofessional and inappropriate,” the statement noted.

In another case, Paul has reinstated a commanding officer after that individual was found not guilty in a civilian court. He declined to provide details about that case.

Another officer who was removed from his post will not be reinstated. Paul declined to provide details on that case as well.

Paul’s command comprises the regular and reserve force army units in Ontario. The division has more than 13,000 personnel and staff, including around 6,000 reservists.

The Forces is trying to entice more recruits to join the reserves as the government wants to boost the size of that force. Reservists are considered part-time soldiers but form an important part of the military, being used on domestic and overseas missions.

dpugliese@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/davidpugliese