In his first, albeit brief, public criticism of DND’s repeated blocking of documents related to the 2008 suicide of Afghan veteran Cpl. Stuart Langridge, Glenn Stannard said the censorship “flies in the face of seeking the truth.”
Defence Minister Peter MacKay has refused to allow the release of documents though has not publicly stated why.
Military Police Complaints Commission lawyer Mark Freiman echoed Stannard’s comment as the thorny issue of solicitor-client privilege and redacted documents sparked another round of testy sniping between inquiry lawyers.
“I want to note how awkward and artificial ... extraordinarily artificial ... what we are doing is,” said Freiman toward the end of his questioning of military police Sgt. David Mitchell, an investigator with the National Investigation Service (NIS).
Freiman, who has clashed several times over the redaction issue with federal lawyer Elizabeth Richards, said advice Mitchell sought from military lawyers during his investigation was “key.
“We are looking to see whether a reasonable investigation was conducted,” said Freiman. “A key element in that investigation has to do with legal conclusions that were formed in the course of the investigation, and we are not able to look at anything to do with that key element.”
Richards has repeatedly told Stannard that Parliament has given his commission limited power and says he has no right to see documents that fall under solicitor-client privilege.
MacKay is legally the “client” of DND lawyers and the only person who can waive the privilege.
“Parliament in its wisdom has seen to exclude from the oversight of this commission the ability to look at the legal advice that was sought and received by military police.”
This comment sparked Stannard’s interjection to which Richards replied.
“Sir, I don’t get to sit in the big House across the Hill. I don’t get to write legislation, but I am bound to enforce it and apply it as I do my duties here before you today.”
But family lawyer Drapeau, a retired army colonel, said MacKay could waive the restriction any time he wished.
“Yes, Parliamentarians may have decided upon the appropriateness of having client-solicitor privilege,” he said. “That privilege belongs to the Crown and they waive it in part or in whole as they wish. So they could do so with these documents anytime the Minister of National Defence decides to do so.”
Langridge’s parents Shaun and Sheila Fynes have complained about the performance of Mitchell and other NIS officers at CFB Edmonton where Langridge hanged himself after a long struggle with alcohol and cocaine.
The Fynes claim three separate NIS investigations into Langridge’s death were deliberately designed to protect the reputation military officers who they claim mishandled their son.
Langridge, 28, was ordered back to base after a 30-day stay at an Edmonton psychiatric unit. He was put on a five-day work schedule and given menial tasks such as snow clearing and trophy polishing.
His parents say the military was heavy handed with Langridge who was in a depressed state, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and had already attempted suicide five times.
The military denies Langridge had PTSD and says his problems were rooted in alcohol and drug abuse.
The soldier spent one tour on reconnaissance missions in the mountains of Afghanistan and according to his former girlfriend Rebecca Starr, changed from being “a happy guy” to a reclusive, depressive person prone to night terrors, fits of anger and profuse sweating.
Mitchell, a rookie investigator with little NIS experience at the time, vigorously defended his role in the Langridge probe, denying any bias.
“We will fight to the death to keep our independence in tact,” said Mitchell of his NIS colleagues.
“Integrity is the cornerstone of being a police officer,” he added. “My integrity is all I’ve got. Apart from my family, I value that more than anything.”
Mitchell rejected the Fynes’ claims that the NIS set out to whitewash the role of Langridge’s superiors at CFB Edmonton.
“At no time was this investigation aimed at exonerating the chain of command or the CF in general,” he said.
Mitchell, who was removed from the Langridge case before it was finished and assigned to training with the RCMP, was tasked — among things — with unravelling the mystery of why Langridge’s superiors designated his former girlfriend as next of kin instead of his parents.
The investigator, who had been with NIS four months when he was handed the Langridge file, told Freiman that he didn’t know who made the decision and there is no reference in publicly available NIS documents as to who might have.
The issue of solicitor-client privilege was debated three weeks ago at the inquiry, leaving commission chairman Stannard with the option of seeking a legal opinion on the limits of his power from the Federal Court.
Stannard has yet to announce whether he will take that potentially time-consuming route.
The hearing continues Wednesday.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Chris Cobb
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