Sexual assault investigation of army officer flawed by ‘tunnel vision’: watchdog

OTTAWA — A military justice watchdog says an investigation of a sexual assault claim against former army officer Dany Fortin was compromised by tunnel vision, bias and a lack of oversight.

The Military Police Complaints Commission released its final report today on the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service’s probe of a sexual assault allegation dating back to 1988, when Fortin was at military college.

The commission says the evidence doesn’t support Fortin’s claim that his prosecution was due to “undue external pressure to uncritically accept the alleged victim’s allegations at face value.”

But commission chairperson Tammy Tremblay does conclude military investigators’ handling of Fortin’s case showed signs of “investigative bias, inadequate supervisory oversight, and a failure to uphold core investigative standards.”

Fortin, who had reached the rank of major-general, was removed as head of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout campaign in May 2021 while he was under investigation.

Fortin was acquitted in December 2022 on one count of sexual assault in a civilian court and retired in 2023 after settling a lawsuit against the military and top government officials for an undisclosed sum.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2025.