Taxpayers spent up to $720K on salaries for military leaders sidelined by sexual misconduct crisis

Taxpayers have spent an estimated $639,000 to $720,900 on salaries for high-ranking military officers who have been moved out of their jobs in connection with the military's sexual misconduct crisis, according to a CBC News analysis.

CBC News analyzed the pay ranges for eight military leaders and the amount of time that has passed since they were shuffled out of their jobs. Some of them are on leave with pay, some are transitioning out of the military and some have been placed in other positions within the Canadian Forces.

While it's difficult to pinpoint a figure given the information publicly available, the analysis indicates the federal government has spent roughly $639,000 to $720,000 on salaries for these individuals since they were moved out of their leadership roles. 

The Department of National Defence says all military members have the right to due process and are entitled to their pay during military police investigations. DND says Canadian law ensures that a workplace cannot punish employees unless they've been proven guilty.

CBC's analysis does not include individuals who retired, were removed from their roles and placed in other staff positions, or used vacation time to cover the entirety of their temporary leave.

The former chief of the defence staff, retired general Jonathan Vance, is collecting his pension and awaiting his criminal trial on one count of obstruction of justice. Vance's salary before he retired in July 2020 was $260,600 to $306,500, according to an order-in-council.

The salary figure, and the number of officers under investigation, reflect the scale of the misconduct crisis and its effects on the Canadian military, said Megan MacKenzie of Simon Fraser University.

"This figure is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the cost, both financial and emotional and reputational, for the defence forces," said MacKenzie, the Simons Chair in International Law and Human Rights Security.

"I think it's signaling that we really need leadership on this issue. We need civilian leaders. We need the prime minister and the minister of defence to come to help to solve this issue."

MacKenzie said the true cost of the sexual misconduct crisis goes beyond the salary figure. She said service members are taking medical leave or exiting the military altogether, while the military struggles with the effects on recruitment and the risk of lawsuits.

Eleven high-ranking military officers have been temporarily or permanently removed from their leadership roles since February in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct, or in response to how they handled sexual misconduct claims.

CBC News has a full list of the cases here.

MacKenzie said she can't think of another defence force in the world that has seen so many senior leaders face sexual misconduct allegations or be placed on leave at the same time. She's been researching military culture for a decade and is leading an international study into military sexual misconduct in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

In other countries, she said, high-profile scandals erupt and then die down after official reviews or policy changes.