Federal court strikes down Fortin's request to be reinstated as head of vaccine rollout
CTV
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin's request for reinstatement as the head of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been struck down by the Federal Court, stating Fortin must first pursue a grievance over his removal with the Canadian Armed Forces.
In a decision issued on Tuesday, Justice Ann Marie McDonald threw out Fortin’s request, ruling that his case was premature as the senior military officer “must exhaust the internal grievance process prior to seeking a remedy” in court.
The 20-page judicial review ruling comes after the court heard Fortin’s legal team and the government dispute who was responsible for the senior military officer’s removal, over two days of hearings in September.
With the review, Fortin was asking to either be reinstated to his former secondment, or be moved into an equivalent posting with the Canadian Armed Forces.
Fortin’s lawyers had alleged political interference by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, as well as a lack of due process or privacy in the decision to remove him. It was a decision that, based on chain of command, was Acting Chief of Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre’s to make, but Fortin alleged that was not the case.
