A government watchdog has slammed military police leadership for failing to review the sexual assault investigation of a civilian worker at a Canadian installation in Latvia.
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It has been more than 420 days since Kristen Adams filed her complaint about how Canadian military police handled the investigation into her sexual assault yet no action has been taken.
On Jan. 8, Tammy Tremblay, chairperson of the Military Police Complaints Commission, wrote to Brig.-Gen. Vanessa Hanrahan to point out that no investigator has even been assigned to look into the serious concerns raised by Adams.
Adams, a civilian working for Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS), was sexually assaulted by a NATO soldier during her shift at a canteen operated by Canada for troops in Latvia, military police records show.
But Adams complained that Canadian military police failed to properly conduct their investigation as well as preserve evidence.
“The continual delay, especially considering the serious allegations and the potential loss of evidence, exacerbates the emotional and psychological trauma the complainant has already endured,” Tremblay wrote to Hanrahan about Adams’ complaint. “Delays in investigating allegations of deficiencies in (a) sexual assault allegation erodes the confidence of the public in both the military police and the complaint process established by Parliament.”
Canadian military police reports and documents noted Adams was sexually assaulted by an Albanian soldier on Dec. 3, 2022. But police said there was little they could do as they didn’t have jurisdiction in Latvia.
Adams also filed a formal complaint about the assault with CFMWS, which is based in Ottawa. But she was told in writing by a vice-president at CFMWS that she should have realized she would face such dangers when accepting a job supporting Canada’s military mission in Latvia.
Adams said CFMWS failed to properly respond to the attack or provide her with help. She believes the Canadian military and CFMWS are trying to sweep the incident under the rug because they don’t want to cause any embarrassment for the Canadian Armed Forces high-profile mission in Latvia.
Lt.-Cmdr. Melanie Aqiqi, a spokesperson for the provost marshal’s office, sent an email to the Ottawa Citizen, noting the conduct of military police personnel and the investigation of complaints is critical to maintaining trust. “The Office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal is moving as expeditiously as possible to resolve complaints in a diligent, fair, and thorough manner,” the email added.
Details of the assault and how poorly Adams was treated by CFMWS management were first reported in the Ottawa Citizen in October 2023, prompting staff at the agency to angrily raise concerns about the organization’s failure to help a fellow worker.
That criticism, in turn, forced Chief Executive Officer Ian Poulter to issue an apology to all CFMWS staff for the way the incident was handled, although he excluded Adams.
Department of National Defence records, obtained by Adams, showed that Poulter never sent the worker a direct apology, even though one was written up.
“Because the story was unfolding in the pages of the Ottawa Citizen, we did not want to correspond with Ms. Adams in writing because we didn’t want to perpetuate that cycle,” DND officials wrote.
Poulter, a retired major general, has not responded to a request for comment.
Months after the assault, Adams wrote to then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and other senior military leaders asking for help. Adams said she didn’t receive a reply from Eyre.
Instead, the DND records indicate that military and department officials were more concerned about whether other news media outlets would pick up on the Ottawa Citizen articles about the incident.
Eyre’s chief of staff Brig. Gen. Brendan Cook warned Poulter in an Oct. 25, 2023 email that “Ms. Adams is likely to be coming back with more media coverage.”
The documents also showed that some CFMWS managers belittled Adams and claimed that the attack never happened. But multiple DND and military records do confirm the sexual assault occurred. One of the reports noted that after the assault the Albanian soldier returned to Adams’ work station looking for her.
Shortly after the assault, Adams’ contract was ended two months early by CFMWS.
On May 10, 2023, Adams received a letter from CFMWS saying the organization had “gone above and beyond in its efforts to support you” and that it would “no longer entertain further complaints or correspondence from you regarding this issue.”
David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe