Military sexual assault investigation suffered from ‘tunnel vision’, watchdog says

A Canadian soldier takes part in an announcement in Petawawa, Ont., on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA — After finding that an internal military investigation into an alleged sexual assault by an air force officer who took his own life was plagued with “multiple failures,” the federal watchdog for military police is calling for an apology to the man’s family.

The Military Police Complaints Commission said Thursday the internal probe that led to Maj. Cristian Hiestand’s arrest was “inadequate, rushed and affected by tunnel vision in the form of confirmation bias.”

The commission’s conclusion comes after a Canadian Forces Provost Marshal’s office investigation had cleared military police of wrongdoing in the case and found allegations against them to be unsubstantiated.

But MPCC chairperson Tammy Tremblay concluded the contrary, writing that the investigators suffered from confirmation bias and ran an “inadequate investigation marked by undue haste.”

“Investigators relied on assumptions, failed to consider or pursue search warrants and neglected relevant witness interviews,” she wrote. “The Hiestand family deserves a response that reflects the seriousness of the deficiencies identified in this report.”

She called for a slew of reforms, such as making investigators consult with prosecutors before laying charges in sexual assault cases. Most of her suggestions were dismissed -- something Tremblay described as revealing a “total lack of accountability.”

Military police had charged Hiestand, a flight instructor in a Royal Canadian Air Force flight training squadron, with two counts of sexual assault in 2021.

Hiestand died by suicide some six weeks later, and his parents and sister filed separate complaints with the military police over how the investigation was carried out. They accused investigators of rushing to judgment and failing to take a statement from the accused before they laid charges.

A military police officer had also alleged the investigating officers did not record the woman’s interview even though they could have.

Tremblay’s office released two final reports on Thursday that examined the complaints separately and reached damning conclusions about the conduct of investigators. Neither report weighed in on whether the specific allegations against Hiestand were true.

The report into complaints by the family members found the internal investigation “lacked supervisory oversight,” had “failed to probe critical issues such as consent,” and did not pursue “critical” witness interviews or fully review text messages between the victim and accused.

Tremblay acknowledges that when the investigators sought to interview Hiestand about the allegations, he had refused on advice of his lawyer. But her report found investigators nonetheless did “not conduct an impartial and thorough investigation.”

Her second report concluded the investigation was “compromised from the outset.” She writes that military police leadership at CFB Moose Jaw had committed wrongdoing on the night the incident was reported, including allowing “an intoxicated supervisor” to be involved in the case.

The report said the second-in-command admitted to having consumed two shots of whiskey before he inserted himself into a discussion about the case before the start of the investigation.

Tremblay’s report said while he informed colleagues he was intoxicated and could not assist in any way, he went on to make “several references during the interview indicating his direct involvement in discussions concerning various aspects of the case.”

An internal probe into an allegation about his intoxication did not result in charges because he had been recalled to work and did not officially participate.

The MPCC report said by his own admission he was there “voluntarily, on his own initiative, having seen the incident on the MP detachment group chat.”

The Provost Marshal’s professional standards office concluded its own investigation in early 2024, which cleared investigators of the allegations against them on the basis that the investigation had not formally concluded when Hiestand was arrested and charged.

The office found military police planned to further investigate, but Hiestand’s death abruptly ended the case.

Tremblay’s second report said the evidence suggests military investigators opted against recording an interview with the complainant to avoid “creating a permanent record of a potentially flawed interview conducted by junior military police.”

The family’s lawyer, Rory Fowler, issued a media statement by email that said the family believes the military’s investigation ultimately led to Cristian’s death.

It said the family was “extremely disappointed” by the Provost Marshal’s rejection of the report’s recommendations.

“The family remains heartbroken over the loss of their son and brother. It has been a difficult four years. While they had initially hoped for a timelier resolution of their complaints, they are nevertheless heartened by the candour of the MPCC reports,” the statement said.

The report comes as the Liberal government in Ottawa advances legislation aimed at overhauling the legal administration of military sexual assault cases.

The recently amended Bill C-11 would grant a victim the ability to choose whether the person charged with a sexual offence would be tried by a military court martial or a civil court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press