Canadian Army corporal fined for stolen valour at Remembrance Day ceremony

Canadian flags are placed at the graves of veterans in the military section of Fraser Cemetery, in New Westminster, B.C., on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A corporal in the Canadian Army was fined $2,000 and given a severe reprimand for wearing service medals he didn't earn during a Remembrance Day ceremony in Alberta two years ago.

Cpl. René Duguay pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline after he was seen wearing three medals on his uniform at the Cold Lake First Nations Remembrance Day ceremony in 2022.

Military judge Col. Nancy Isenor found that Duguay had not been awarded any medals in his nine years of military service, first with the army reserves and later with the regular force.

Shortly after the ceremony, military police questioned Duguay about his uniform and found he had no authority to wear the honours, which included two medals for service in southwest Asia and one medal recognizing service under exceptional circumstances, according to the judge's decision.

'Dishonoured himself'

At the time of the offence, the army corporal was assigned to the 4 Mission Support Squadron in Cold Lake.

The unit provided a military impact statement to the court describing how Duguay's actions negatively affected the unit's morale and discipline.

"It speaks to his actions having not only dishonoured himself, but the sacrifices made by both veterans and serving CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) members," Isenor wrote in a summary of the statement.

The judge said Duguay's behaviour was preceded by a series of adverse events, coinciding with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after his transfer from Vancouver Island to Alberta.

Duguay was the victim of "several assaults" while involved in a "toxic relationship" between May 2020 and March 2022, the judge wrote. During the same period, Duguay was posted to Wainwright, Alta., where he reportedly intervened to stop a serious sexual assault, according to the judge.

"One of the other individuals who intervened alongside him would commit suicide approximately two days later," Isenor wrote in her decision.

"Although these challenges provide a context for his conduct, they do not excuse it."

'Trivializes' sacrifices

Commonly referred to as "stolen valour," the wearing of military medals or decorations that were not earned by the wearer "trivializes the achievements and sacrifices of others within the profession of arms," Isenor wrote.

The judge found Duguay's behaviour was particularly egregious because it occurred on Remembrance Day.

"Canadian Armed Forces medals and decorations hold special meaning," the judge concluded, addressing Dugauy directly.

"Members miss births, deaths, first steps, first words and many other important milestone events in their lives, sacrificing those moments, risking their lives and sometimes even giving their lives to support the government of Canada's goals and CAF operations. Your actions, wearing medals that you were not entitled to, not only shows your lack of respect for those sacrifices and those members, it diminishes the sacrifices of the members who earned that right, and that is unacceptable."

Duguay was ordered to pay the $2,000 fine in four monthly $500 instalments starting in December.