MONTREAL – The general in charge of coordinating Canada’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign has left his post at the Public Health Agency as he is being investigated by the military, said the National Defence Department yesterday.
Formerly commander of the Nato mission in Iraq, Maj-Gen Dany Fortin leaves his public health assignment “pending the results of a military investigation”, said authorities in a brief statement, without elaborating.
Fortin was appointed last November by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to coordinate the logistics of the largest vaccination campaign in Canadian history.
The military is responsible, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency, for distributing coronavirus vaccines in remote communities of the vast country.
The military has been shaken in recent months by a series of investigations into high-ranking officers accused of sexual misconduct.
They include General (Rtd) Jonathan Vance, a former chief of defence staff, who has denied the claims against him.
His successor, Admiral Art McDonald, left office a few weeks after his appointment, following the opening of an investigation into similar charges.
Last month, National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan instructed Louise Arbour, prosecutor before the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and for the former Yugoslavia, to conduct an independent probe into the handling of sexual harassment cases within the military. – AFP, May 15, 2021
