Canada: the former vaccination official accused of sexual assault, will not find his post

The former head of the Canadian vaccination campaign Dany Fortin, accused of sexual assault, will not be able to return to his duties as he requested, the Federal Court ruled on Tuesday.

This officer, who notably headed the NATO mission in Iraq in 2018/2019, left his position as vaccine distribution coordinator in May following accusations of sexual assault.

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The facts, which Dany Fortin denies, go back to 1988, when he was studying at the Royal Military College of Canada, in Quebec. Judge Ann Marie McDonald did not decide the case on the merits, believing that Dany Fortin should have turned to the military authorities and not to the Federal Court. He believes that his ouster in May from his post as vice-president of logistics and operations at the Canadian Public Health Agency (CPHA) is a

. He assures us that neither the presumption of innocence nor the military chain of command have been respected.

His lawyer Natalia Rodriguez said she was

with the decision. Recourse to military authorities

she told AFP. Before Iraq, Dany Fortin was previously sent to Bosnia, with the UN peacekeepers, as well as to Afghanistan where he led Canadian troops. The Canadian Armed Forces have been shaken for several months by a series of investigations into senior officers targeted by accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior, including former Chief of the Defense Staff, General Jonathan Vance.

Jonathan Vance retired earlier this year before the allegations, which he denies, were made public.

In July, he was charged with obstructing justice.

In addition, at the end of April, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan instructed former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) Louise Arbor to conduct an independent investigation into the handling of cases of sexual harassment within the army.