Gen. Wayne Eyre continues the battle to keep secret his speech on openness and transparency

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Just a week after the country’s top soldier told parliamentarians the military must be more open with Canadians, his organization broke the law by refusing to release a copy of a speech he presented in public.

At issue is an ongoing attempt by this newspaper to obtain a written copy of a March 7 speech that Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre gave calling for increased openness and transparency. Typically, the Canadian Forces posts copies of such public speeches on its website and issues the material to news outlets.

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But Eyre’s office declined to do that and insisted this newspaper use the federal government’s Access to Information law to obtain a copy of the speech delivered at an Ottawa conference. That was done April 8, but the Canadian Forces continues to refuse to provide the material and has now violated the federal law requiring it to release the records within 30 days.

This newspaper has filed a complaint with the Information Commissioner of Canada over the military’s decision to refuse to release the records about Eyre’s speech on openness, but an investigation could take years.

Ken Rubin, a researcher and advocate for transparency in government, says the incident is a symptom of an increasingly secretive military and Liberal government, with no consequences for violating the access to information law.

“(General) Eyre needs to go back to ‘democracy boot camp,’” Rubin said. “You have to wonder, if they are refusing to produce a written copy of a speech delivered in public, then what else is being hidden?”

Eyre declined to comment or explain why he and his office continued to withhold the speech.

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The refusal to release the records under the access law came just a week after Eyre went before a parliamentary committee and talked about the need for more transparency in the military.

Defence Minister Bill Blair was asked what he thought of Eyre’s actions and how that reflected on the Liberal government’s stated goal of openness and transparency. Blair did not directly respond to that question, but his office released a statement: “We recognize that Access to Information is a right for all Canadians. Minister Blair has been clear: DND needs to do better on ATIP management — and our team is hard at work to ensure that this happens.”

Rubin says Blair’s statements about transparency are meaningless as the Liberal government has gone to great lengths to undercut the access law and prevent the release of information. In addition, Liberals recently cut the budget of Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard, hobbling her already limited watchdog capabilities, Rubin adds.

Under the federal access law, any member of the public can request government information by paying a $5 fee. Such requests are not usually required for copies of government speeches or statements made by senior officials at public gatherings.

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Critics, however, have pointed out that under Eyre and Blair the Canadian Forces has been significantly limiting the amount of information it releases to the public.

Information about tax dollars being spent on the F-35 stealth fighter and a new fleet of warships — previously public — are now being censored from records by National Defence and other federal departments.

The situation has become so bad that the House of Commons defence committee held hearings earlier this year about the increasing secrecy. The committee heard the department continued to withhold a wide range of records, including files needed by military sexual-assault survivors for legal purposes.

Some former soldiers have complained they also face uphill battles to get the military to release documents needed for medical-benefits claims, NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen said.

In March, retired Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin accused fellow generals of deliberately withholding records requested under the access law.

Acquitted of sexual assault, Fortin launched a lawsuit in March 2023 against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Eyre and other military officials for their alleged actions linked to his case. But Fortin, who has used the Access to Information Act and the federal privacy law to try to obtain records on the behind-the-scenes actions of fellow generals, pointed out he was stonewalled in those attempts.

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“Skirting around the law is petty and reprehensible,” Fortin said in a statement to this newspaper. “Leaders should be held to account.”

In his March 7 televised speech and in various appearances before Commons committees, Eyre has repeated his claim the military needs to be more open and transparent with Canadians.

But Maynard testified in February before the Commons defence committee that she had to take the department to court to force the release of records. Maynard also acknowledged military officers and department officials faced few real consequences for ignoring the law.

In March 2023, this newspaper revealed Eyre’s office had falsely claimed records requested under the access law didn’t exist.

In fact, those records had been leaked to this newspaper by sources concerned that copies were being destroyed or illegally withheld.

They showed Eyre received advice from a sexual misconduct survivors’ group on how to finesse his public statements about unethical behaviour as well as reassurances that the organization called INJ 700 wasn’t pushing for harsh punishment of senior officers.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, subscribe: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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