Romance costs another Canadian commander his job

TORONTO - Just a month after it sacked its top commander in Afghanistan for having a romantic affair with a female trooper, Canada has kicked out its top military man in Haiti for his involvement in ‘inappropriate’ sexual relations.

Colonel Bernard Ouellette, who is the chief of staff to the United Nations mission in the earthquake-hit Haiti, was relieved of his post and is under investigation, a spokesman for the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM) said Friday.

CEFCOM handles oversees military and humanitarian operations by Canadian forces.

However, the spokesman said the allegation of an ‘inappropriate’ relationship did not involve another member of the Canadian military. Col Ouellette was also heading Canadian relief efforts in Haiti after January’s deadly earthquake following the massive earthquake.

The spokesman said the UN has been notified of Col Ouellette’s sacking and a new Canadian commander will soon replace him.

The sacking comes just more than a month after Brigadier General Daniel Menard, head of the Canadian troops in Kandahar, was kicked out for having an affair with a female trooper.

The Canadian Forces - the joint name for its army, air force and navy - forbid intimate relations between soldiers serving on overseas missions.

An inappropriate relationship as per Canadian Forces (CF) rules could be “an emotional, romantic, sexual or family relationship, including marriage or a common-law partnership or civil union, between two CF members, or a CF member and a DND employee or contractor, or a member of an allied force”.

This is the third scandal to hit the Canadian armed forces in quick succession. In February, Col Russ Williams, commander of Canadian Forces Air Command base at Trenton, was arrested for his alleged role in the murders of two women.