How a golf game led to talks between the military and sex misconduct survivors
Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Craig Baines admits he made a mistake by golfing with retired general Jonathan Vance last summer while the former chief of the defence staff was being investigated for alleged sexual misconduct.
But in his first interview since current defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre's controversial decision not to fire him, Baines says he has tried to make the most of his second chance by connecting with victims and survivors of military sexual misconduct.
Those connections have been personal, as Baines has sat down with former service members who experienced inappropriate and illegal sexual behaviour while in uniform to listen and learn why his decision was wrong.
He has also worked to connect senior officers across the navy with It's Not Just 700, a support and advocacy group specially created six years ago for victims of military sexual misconduct, and pledged to be an agent for change.
"The biggest thing for me, and what I've committed to when dealing with the different groups that I have talked to, is that we're going to keep this on the agenda," Baines told The Canadian Press.
"We're not going to allow this just to be a spike of activity, and then once everyone stops looking, we're just going to go back to the way it was. That's not what we're going to do. We are going to change the navy for the better."
It's Not Just 700 co-chair Lori Buchart says while Baines made a bad decision in golfing with Vance, that mistake has since opened the door to a real dialogue between victims and survivors and the military's top brass.
And while she acknowledges not everyone will be happy the group is working with Baines and other military commanders, Buchart says the discussions have been healing for some participants. She's also hoping they lead to real change in the Canadian Armed Forces.
"We really need to find a pathway forward for conversation and for good leaders to reconcile and start a restoration process with those people that are harmed," Buchart said. "When we start doing that, we're starting to rebuild trust with the community."
The birth of the current partnership started with Eyre's announcement in late June that he had decided to keep Baines on as commander of the Royal Canadian Navy despite his having golfed with Vance and another senior officer, Mike Rouleau.
Baines blames a "blind spot" for his decision to hit the links at Ottawa's Hylands Golf and Country Club on June 2, saying he was there out of friendship with Rouleau and not to support Vance, who was charged in July with one count of obstruction of justice. Vance has denied any wrongdoing.
Rouleau at the time was vice-chief of the defence staff, the military's second in command, to whom military police are administratively responsible. He resigned two weeks after the golf game, and took the blame for Baines having been there in the first place.
"There were many different ways I could have supported my colleague, general Rouleau, and that just wasn't the right way to do it," Baines said when asked about the golf game. "And I felt terrible that in trying to do that, I caused harm to survivors."
In announcing his decision to keep Baines, Eyre said he had consulted a number of people, including victims and survivors, and was giving the navy commander a chance "to redeem himself and show us how to learn, grow, and help the healing process."
The decision was controversial, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland saying it sent the wrong message to women in the military.
Buchart had similar questions about Eyre's decision, recalling: "I'm like: `Well, who did you consult in the community? And you're saying why it's good for Craig, but you're not saying why it's good for the Canadian Armed Forces and the people who served."'
A former university professor and retired lieutenant-commander who was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions during her 14 years in the naval reserve, Buchart at the time had only recently taken over as co-chair of It's Not Just 700, known previously as It's Just 700.
The all-volunteer group was founded in 2015 after the release of an explosive report by retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps that for the first time detailed the extent of the military's problem with sexual misconduct.
While INJ700 has been at the forefront of calls for accountability and action, Buchart says she arrived with a slightly different mindset: "If we were going to help bring about change, we had to have different types of conversations."
So Buchart wrote an email to Eyre expressing her questions and concerns. Less than an hour later, Baines messaged back asking if they could talk. Buchart says she agreed only after checking with some other officers she knew who vouched for him.
When they finally talked by phone a few days later, Baines admitted to having made a mistake.
"I said: `Look, you made a really bad decision,"' Buchart recalls. "But I'm not the one who has to forgive what you did."'
Baines agreed to a roundtable between himself and other members of the navy with INJ700's leadership team, who have since met with senior leaders of the air force leaders as well, with more meetings planned in the coming weeks.
The navy commander also sat down with victims and survivors for two "restorative engagement" sessions to better understand why his decision on June 2 hurt them and others. A similar session has been held with Eyre.
Buchart says those meetings, which were set up with assistance from the military's internal conflict unit, have proven cathartic.
"One of the individuals got up and said: `I've done 25 years of psychotherapy and 25 years of drugs, and that hasn't done for me what six hours engaged in this restorative session with Admiral Baines has,"' Buchart recalls.
Baines says his eyes have been opened to the pain he caused, and that he is committed to championing change.
Buchart knows not everyone will approve of INJ700's work with Baines and the rest of the military, which has a long history of promising to root sexual misconduct from the ranks and then failing in that commitment.
But she says not only does the group continue to press for accountability, she has also seen the benefit to individual victims and survivors -- and is cautiously optimistic dialogue will lead to real change.
"To move this train wreck forward, this whole conversation piece, there just had to be some swimming upstream," she says. "If we can engage in conversation, engage in critical dialogue and get these folks to start chatting ... then we can shift what's happening."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
BREAKING 15-year-old boy stabbed Thursday in Nepean dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Mexican authorities say thieves killed 2 Australians and an American to steal their truck
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
Local Spotlight
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.