Sexual assault charges stayed against former army commander over court delay

CTV National News: Changing military culture? Judy Trinh reports on the skepticism around the Canadian military's attempts to reverse its culture and attitudes to sexual assault.

OTTAWA — Retired Lt.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu, who once returned from fighting in Ukraine to face sexual assault charges, received a stay from a Kingston, Ont., judge Tuesday, who ruled his delayed trial violated his rights.

Justice Larry O’Brien found the former high ranking officer’s trial breached a Supreme Court decision known as R. v. Jordan, which stipulates the process must be completed within 18 months of being charged.

As Cadieu’s trial was expected to conclude mid-February 2024, it would exceed that limit by “over one and a half months,” O’Brien told a Kingston court.

The sexual assault allegations date back to 1994, when Cadieu was a fourth-year cadet at the Royal Military College in Kingston.

His former classmate, Cory Gelowitz, was his co-accused, and also saw his charge stayed for the same reasons.

“Throughout this process Mr. Cadieu has co-operated with military investigators and the courts. While he has always been confident that he would prevail, the process has been incredibly stressful for him and his family,” said Scott Hutchison, Mr. Cadieu’s lawyer, in a statement.

“Any reasonably competent investigator objectively assessing the allegations that were made against him would never have proceeded with a charge,” Mr. Gelowitz’s lawyer Alexa Banister-Thompson wrote in a statement.

Justice O’Brien singled out a nine-month delay for military police investigators to share evidence with civilian defence lawyers as a main cause of the delay.

“Someone should be held accountable,” Justice O’Brien said.

“We are examining the disclosure process that took place in this case — and we are committed to ensuring that we meet our legal obligation to disclose evidence in the required timeframe,” Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces said in statement.

In May, former Defence Minister Anita Anand moved all military sexual assault cases to the civilian system, following a recommendation from a report from former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour.

“Madame Arbour is clear that civilian police are best equipped to handle sexual offences, and she notes that this change would best support survivors of sexual assault and misconduct and ensure justice for them,” Defence Minister Bill Blair’s press secretary Daniel Minden wrote in a statement.

Minden added that “this is a key and pressing priority, and work is ongoing.”

“All we can really be certain of is a great many people dropped the ball in a great many ways,” former military lawyer Rory Fowler said.

Fowler would like to see an inquiry into how the military police are conducting these types of investigations.

“Questions have to be asked about why it takes so long to provide disclosure,” said Fowler.

Since 2021, several high ranking Canadian military officers have been accused of sexual misconduct.

The military dropped charges against Lt.-Gen. Steve Whelan last month. Former vaccine rollout leader Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin was acquitted in January. Meanwhile, the sexual assault trial of Vice-Admiral Haydn Edmundson has faced delays.

There are concerns that backlogs in the civilian system and slow transfer of essential evidence from military investigators could result in more stayed charges.

“It's incredibly frustrating for everybody because there's no outcome,” said Donna Riguidel, director of Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group.

Riguidel called Tuesday’s legal decision frustrating.

“The survivor doesn't get any kind of closure,” she says. “Neither does Lt.-Gen. Cadieu.”