The commander of the Canadian Armed Forces is at the verge of tendering a formal apology to the victims of sexual misconduct.
The apology is part of a $900-million settlement agreement that the federal government signed with current military members, former military members and civilian Defence Department employees in 2019 after a class-action lawsuit against the Forces.
The representative of the plaintiffs, Lawyer Jonathan Ptak, said his clients were anticipating the apology from the chief of the defence staff and the Defence Department’s Deputy Minister once it is reasonable under the current conditions with COVID-19.
Ptak said the apology is significant for victims of military sexual abuse to heal and get their experiences acknowledged.
The Defence Department is refusing to offer details on the apology, but Vice-Chief of Defence staff Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau has said the apology is being planned with a week of training for military members on sexual misconduct.
It remains unclear whether the apology will be tendered by the outgoing Chief of Defence staff, Gen. Jonathan Vance, or his yet to be named successor.
