Military Did Not Assess Operational Impact of Kicking Out Unvaccinated Troops: Records

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre waits to appear before the Standing Commitee on National Defence to provide a briefing on the mandate and priorities of the minister of national defence, in Ottawa on Sept. 28, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby)

The Canadian military never evaluated how operational readiness would be affected by the expulsion of soldiers refusing COVID-19 vaccination before imposing its mandate, internal records indicate.

“The CAF did not conduct a pre-policy risk analysis since CDS, based on solid medical advice, decided to accept any impacts this policy would/could have brought to bear,” wrote then-Brigadier-General Erick Simoneau in a May 2022 email.

Simoneau, now a major-general, was responding to queries from the Military Grievances External Review Committee (MGERC), an administrative tribunal that issues non-binding recommendations to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS).

MGERC had begun in early 2022 to process grievances from soldiers who disputed the constitutionality of the CAF vaccine mandate, which had come into force in October 2021. The Committee was asking CAF leadership for its rationale for its treatment of members who were refusing vaccination.

The exchanges between CAF leaders and MGERC staff were released through an access-to-information request.

MGERC had specifically asked Maj.-Gen. Simoneau, who was at the time and remains Chief of Staff Chief Professional Conduct and Culture, whether the CAF had “evaluated the operational impacts of releasing, or not releasing, the ‘unwilling’ members and if so, what was the impact.”

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Maj.-Gen. Simoneau said while a pre-policy risk analysis had not been conducted, the situation was monitored after its implementation, and he said that “no operational impact [was] observed.”

Later that year in October 2022, CDS General Wayne Eyre ordered an immediate halt to non-essential CAF activities to deal with the personnel crisis. At that time, the vaccine mandate was also lifted as a condition of employment, but was kept in place for operation roles.

Troop Loss

The vast majority of troops were compliant with the vaccine mandate. The Department of National Defence (DND) says that 299 regular force members were expelled for being non-compliant during the full mandate period. Another 108 were released voluntarily, indicating the vaccination requirement was the main reason for leaving the forces.

Those numbers, however, do not portray the full impact of COVID-19 and related policies on CAF personnel.

Total strength numbers provided by DND show the CAF incurred a net loss of 2,113 regular force members in fiscal year 2020/2021, 613 in fiscal 2021/2022, and 1,530 in 2022/2023. Over the same period, the reserve force had a net loss of 583, 766, and 853 troops.

Going back ten years, the biggest net drop for the regular force had been 225 in 2016/2017 and 477 for the reserve in 2015/2016.

Overall, between April 2020 and March 2023, the CAF had a net loss of 6,458 soldiers.

The personnel shortfall in the CAF has been referred to as a “death spiral” by Defence Minister Bill Blair in March, with the forces lacking almost 16,000 troops.

Gen. Eyre expressed optimism, however, when he appeared at the House of Commons defence committee on May 8. He said the changes made to recruiting and retention are “bearing fruit,” pointing to an increase in force strength in fiscal year 2023/2024.

The regular force saw a net growth of 210 troops, and the reserve grew by 1,018.

Grievances

Gen. Eyre is set to retire in the coming weeks. As of earlier this year, he had yet to address multiple findings and recommendations provided by MGERC in relation to his COVID-19 policies.

MGERC spokesperson Luana Mirella told The Epoch Times that 93 findings related to COVID-19 were sent to the CDS and another 112 are being processed.

MGERC’s baseline finding on the constitutionality of the CAF’s vaccine mandate, finalized in January 2023, is that the policy was “not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

“The policy, in some aspects, is arbitrary, overly broad and disproportionate,” wrote MGERC member Nina Frid. “Therefore, I conclude that the grievors’ rights protected under section 7 were infringed.”

Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the life, liberty, and personal security of Canadians.

The CAF has defended the mandate, with spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin previously saying it was based on the “most up to date medical evidence and advice, the current federal posture, and the need to be operationally ready in terms of both force health and ability to act in an environment where any vaccine-preventable illness is a hazard to individuals and the mission.”

The vaccine mandate imposed by the Liberal government on the public service did not apply to the CAF, but internal records suggest Gen. Eyre had his hands tied.

“The CAF was directed to impose an equivalent mandate on CAF members,” stated Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Lieutenant-General Frances Allen in an April 25, 2022, email.

Lt.-Gen. Allen was also responding to a query from MGERC seeking to obtain the CAF’s justification for imposing a mandate. The response she provided came from the Strategic Joint Staff, which provides advice to the CDS.

Asked to comment on the CAF being “directed,” Ms. Poulin said this is a “reference to broader Government of Canada direction, and not a specific individual.” Ms. Poulin added the directive “was aligned with the Treasury Board Secretariat’s vaccination requirements for federal public servants.”

In his May testimony to the defence committee, Gen. Eyre spoke in general terms of being frustrated about not being able to address grievances caused by outside factors.

“Unfortunately [for] some policies our hands are tied,” he said. “I get quite frustrated when a grievance comes across my desk and I find you aggrieved, but there’s nothing I can do about it, because the policy is held at Treasury Board, for example.”

Both Gen. Eyre and Lt.-Gen. Allen, along with other military and federal defence officials, are named as defendants in two separate lawsuits filed by hundreds of current and former CAF members alleging abuse of power with regard to COVID-19 policies.

The attorney general has called the claims “scandalous, frivolous, and vexatious.”