Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice-Admiral Craig Baines, admits he made a mistake by playing golf with former Chief of the Defense Staff, Jonathan Vance, when the latter was under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.
The officer hopes to redeem himself after the decision of the current Chief of the Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, not to remove him from his post.
Vice Admiral Baines wants his officers to be able to talk to victims of sexual misconduct through the group It’s Not Just 700.
These conversations take place on a personal basis. Vice Admiral Baines himself met with casualties to find out how his own actions and those of other senior naval officers may have hurt them.
“The most important thing, and I’ve committed to that in my meetings, is to keep the conversations going,” he told The Canadian Press. We will not just talk about it while the subject is in the news. We’re not going back to the old ways. We will change the Navy for the better. »
Group co-chair Lori Buchart says the vice admiral made the wrong decision going golfing with Jonathan Vance. However, this error opened the door to a real dialogue between the victims and the military hierarchy.
While some victims aren’t happy to talk with Vice Admiral Baines and other commanders, those discussions have helped some begin the healing process, Buchart said.
Ms. Buchart hopes that these discussions will bring about real change within the Military Armed Forces.
“We have to find a way to have these discussions. It takes good commanders to initiate reconciliation and a pathway for victims to recover, she said. When you begin this process, you begin to rebuild trust. »
On June 2, Craig Baines went to an Ottawa-area golf club to play a round with the then Vice Chief of the Defense Staff, General Mike Rouleau, and their former boss, Jonathan Vance. The vice-admiral says he went there out of friendship for the first and not in support of the second.
Vance was charged in July with obstruction of justice. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mike Rouleau resigned from his position just two weeks after that round of golf. He had accepted the responsibility of having invited Craig Baines there.
“I could have supported my colleague, General Rouleau, in several other ways. It was not the right way to do it, recognizes the vice-admiral. I am unhappy to find that I have been able to injure victims [en jouant au golf avec Vance]. »
Ms Buchart says she wondered after General Eyre’s decision to keep Craig Baines in the job. “I wondered who he consulted in the community. And when he explained that if it was for the good of Baines, he was not saying that it was for the good of the Canadian Armed Forces and their members. »
She had written an email to General Eyre expressing her doubts. Less than an hour later, the vice-admiral replied, requesting a meeting. Ms. Buchart says she agreed to speak to him only after discussing it with officers who vouched for it.
A few days later, during a telephone conversation, Craig Baines admitted his wrongdoing.
“I told him he had made a very bad decision,” says Ms. Buchart. But it wasn’t up to me to forgive him. »
The Vice Admiral agreed to participate in a town hall meeting with other Navy officers and It’s Not Just 700 leadership.
The vice admiral also met with victims twice. According to Ms. Buchart, these meetings had a cathartic effect.
“One of the participants commented that those six hours of discussions with Vice-Admiral Baines had done more for him than the 25 years of psychotherapy he had undergone. »