Publicly, Canada’s military police chief said he would investigate any officer. Privately, he said that did not include his boss.

Canada’s military police chief said he was unable to investigate his own supervisor, despite having previously assured members of Parliament that his force would investigate any officer “regardless of rank,” documents obtained by the officer reveal. Star.

Last spring, Provost Brigadier General. Simon Trudeau told the House of Commons standing committee on the status of women that his officers will investigate any member of the Canadian Armed Forces “regardless of rank or status,” when he testified about handling allegations of sexual conduct. inappropriate in the Canadian Armed Forces.

But just two months later, when Trudeau was asked by the acting chief of defense staff to investigate an allegation against his direct supervisor, Trudeau rejected the request, according to documents received by the Star following a request for access to information.

That apparent contradiction has critics charging that the military police are not as independent as Trudeau has publicly claimed, at a time when CAF continues to grapple with allegations of mishandling or ignoring allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault.

In an email obtained by the Star, General Wayne Eyre asked Trudeau to have military police investigate the circumstances under which the Deputy Chief of Defense Staff, Lieutenant General. Mike Rouleau had reportedly played a game of golf in June with retired General Jonathan Vance, a former defense chief of staff.

At the time, Vance was the subject of an investigation by the military police, who were investigating allegations of sexual misconduct. The police, eventually reporting to Rouleau, subsequently charged Vance with obstruction of justice.

Rouleau resigned following media reports about the golf game.

In his email to Trudeau, Eyre requested an investigation into “the facts and circumstances” of the game of golf, “including allegations that the course was cleared from any other golfer to ensure privacy and that there were discussions of ongoing investigations.” .

Trudeau responded, “I will,” in a reply posted the same day.

However, he sent a follow-up email to Eyre the next day in which he said he would not go ahead with the investigation.

“I am concerned about the potential conflict of interest (actual or perceived) in discussing the matter below for two main reasons: my ‘general supervisory’ relationship with (Rouleau) and, more importantly, that the matter / circumstances would not match. to the level of service / offense (s), ”wrote Trudeau.

“For those reasons, and to preserve the independence of my office in relation to police matters, I will not investigate the matter …”

Now, despite Trudeau’s claims that military police will investigate any member of the military, experts say the emails prove his office is not as independent as he has described it.

“This confirms what many have been asserting for decades: the military police are not independent and there is a conflict of interest when it comes to investigating high-ranking service members,” said Megan MacKenzie, an expert on military sexual misconduct at the Simon Fraser University.

“There is no ambiguity here,” MacKenzie said. “The provost commissioner reports to the deputy chief of defense personnel, so I am puzzled that anyone could say that the military police are independent.”

In an email to the Star, a military police spokesman denied that Trudeau told Eyre that the deputy chief of defense staff could not be investigated.

“His main consideration, which he states in the email, was that the matter did not equate to the level of service / crime (s) and therefore did not meet the threshold for the military police to investigate,” said Lt. Cdr. Jamie Bresolin wrote in an email.

Bresolin added that Trudeau “has stated that any member of the CAF, regardless of rank or status, can be investigated by the military police.”

An expert on sexual misconduct in the military says it might be better for the military police to report directly to the minister of national defense.

Citing his reporter relationship with the deputy chief of defense staff in refusing to investigate, Trudeau also raises questions about the ability of the military police to investigate the chief of defense staff, said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at Canadian Global Affairs. Institute, “because that superior has power over him (vice-chief), so he makes things very complicated and very murky.”

The correspondence between Trudeau and Eyre highlights an “urgent requirement” for an external oversight body, said retired Colonel Michel Drapeau, a lawyer specializing in military affairs.

That issue is currently being studied by retired Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor in an independent review of sexual misconduct in the military.

“It would ensure … everyone is accountable, regardless of their positions within the defense structure,” Drapeau said.

After rejecting Eyre’s request, Trudeau recommended that “the best way to determine the facts you are looking for around the game of golf,” the deputy deputy minister for review services of the Department of National Defense.

A DND spokesperson confirmed that the deputy deputy minister’s office provided Eyre with an analysis of the golf game, which was not included in the package of documents the Star received.