Military police investigate dozens of complaints of racism in the Canadian Army

Military police and civilian law enforcement have investigated up to 70 cases of alleged hateful conduct and racist attitudes within the Canadian Army since a crackdown began in September last year, CBC News has learned.

A briefing prepared for the army's acting commander last winter and obtained under access to information legislation shows 115 cases were catalogued up until that time, with 57 of them being investigated by military authorities.

Figures updated to the end of August — and released to CBC News — show an additional 28 allegations. Of those, 13 were deemed serious enough to warrant a police investigation. 

The former top army commander and current acting chief of the defence staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, ordered a broad crackdown after a series of high-profile incidents and investigations.

He issued a 25-page directive that requires soldiers to report to their superiors when they witness or become aware of racism and hateful conduct. If they fail to do so, there could be serious consequences, with Eyre saying they intend to "hold our members accountable for their actions."

The majority of the hateful conduct cases in the army assessment were reported early this year and in the latter half of 2020 after Eyre issued his order. The scope of the statistical review goes back to 2019. Some of the actual incidents, however, go back as far as 1997.

The general's tough line came following the case of a now-former Canadian Ranger who was involved with two well-known hate groups and who referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "treasonous bastard."

Just last week, another ex-reservist, Manitoban Patrik Mathews, was sentenced to nine years in a U.S. prison for his role in what investigators called a violent plot to trigger a "race war" in the United States through the right-wing extremists group The Base.

Significantly, eight of the first 115 cases involve a "potential association with a hate group." It's unclear how many of the newer batch fall into that category.

The vast majority of the cases (88 per cent) involved junior members and non-commissioned officers, including master corporals and sergeants.

Only 20 soldiers out of the overall total of 143 cases have been released or given notice of release by the military.

Roughly another quarter of the cases are the subject of an administrative review, which the defence department said in a statement will determine the individuals' "suitability for continued service" within the Canadian Armed Forces.

Slightly less than 10 per cent of the cases were the subject of the separate system of disciplinary action. About 20 per cent of the cases were considered unfounded complaints.

The officers who prepared the presentation for the army council, a meeting of senior leaders, were cautiously optimistic about the findings.