Sexual harassment is a way of life in Canada’s armed forces.
U.S. forces have sexual misconduct problems, too, but perpetrators may risk discipline and dismissal.
Not so in Canada; there, it’s different. “Really, there’s a culture that’s been permissive of these acts of harm and abuse of power,” a Canadian armed forces expert said.
Perhaps the reason is because it’s hard to discipline subordinates for what you’re doing. Canada’s top-ranking general did it, and when he was sacked, his successor, Canada’s top-ranking admiral, got himself fired for the same reason.
“The number of top brass implicated in Canada is unique” among NATO countries, another Canadian expert said, referring to the fact at least 11 high-ranking Canadian officers have been removed from duty for sexual offenses.
It appears the Canadian government is finally cracking down on perpetrators, and trying to do a little something for victims. (Read story here).
A spectacular 2010 case involved Col. Russell Williams (photo, left), commanding officer of Canada’s largest military air base, and a pilot flew Queen Elizabeth around Canada; he turned out to be a serial killer. (Details here; watch his police interrogation and confession in the video below.)
While the Canadian military didn’t turn him into a monster (he did that to himself), one has to wonder whether a less permissive military culture might have put some brakes on his behavior before he began murdering women.