Saturday, June 20, 2026
ADVT 
National

Telford offers to testify on Vance allegations

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 06 May, 2021 10:13 PM
  • Telford offers to testify on Vance allegations

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff has offered to testify at a House of Commons committee studying allegations of sexual misconduct against Canada's former top military commander.

The Canadian Press has learned that Katie Telford has written members of the defence committee offering to testify at their meeting Friday.

Opposition parties have been demanding she appear to explain an apparent discrepancy between Trudeau's assertion that his office did not know a complaint against then-defence chief general Jonathan Vance involved sexual misconduct and other testimony and emails suggesting that it did know.

The Conservatives earlier this week moved a motion calling for Telford to be fired for not telling Trudeau that the complaint was sexual in nature. That motion was defeated.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said he was informed about the complaint in 2018 by then-military ombudsman Gary Walbourne and immediately referred the matter to the Privy Council Office.

The Privy Council Office has said it could not pursue an investigation because it did not receive the information it needed to move forward.

MORE National ARTICLES

Military members asked to use COVID-19 app

Military members asked to use COVID-19 app
Chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance and Defence Department deputy minister Jody Thomas say they understand some may have concerns when it comes to privacy and secrecy.

Military members asked to use COVID-19 app

Tories ask languages czar to probe WE deal

Tories ask languages czar to probe WE deal
Conservative MP Richard Martel alleges in a letter to commissioner Raymond Theberge that the youth group did not have the ability to deliver the multimillion-dollar Canada Student Service Grant program in both of Canada's official languages.

Tories ask languages czar to probe WE deal

Parents take Quebec to court for online learning

Parents take Quebec to court for online learning
Human rights lawyer Julius Grey told Quebec Superior Court Justice Frederic Bachand the decision to send one's child to class during the COVID-19 pandemic is an extremely private and personal one.

Parents take Quebec to court for online learning

Bottle depots to accept cannabis containers?

Bottle depots to accept cannabis containers?
The Alberta Bottle Depot Association says paying a deposit on the containers and having it returned at dropoff would help divert plastic from landfills and stabilize declines in depot income.

Bottle depots to accept cannabis containers?

Space agency gets first female president

Space agency gets first female president
Longtime public servant Lisa Campbell has been tapped by the Trudeau government to take the agency's reins, the first woman to head the organization since it was founded in 1989.

Space agency gets first female president

Boy, 10, escapes serious injury in cougar attack

Boy, 10, escapes serious injury in cougar attack
The Conservation Officer Service says the animal attacked on Monday near a remote family cabin on Marshall Lake northwest of Lillooet.

Boy, 10, escapes serious injury in cougar attack