Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, acquitted on sex assault charge, settles lawsuit

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin speaks to members of the media following an acquittal in his case at a Gatineau, Que., courthouse on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. Fortin, a senior military officer who was acquitted on a sexual assault charge late last year, has filed a $6 million lawsuit against the Canadian government. Spencer ColbyTHE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin has reached an undisclosed settlement in his lawsuit over how the Canadian military and federal government responded to an allegation of sexual misconduct.

Fortin was removed as head of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine rollout campaign in May 2021 while he was under investigation for an allegation dating back to 1988, when he was at military college.

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He was charged with one count of sexual assault in August 2021, for which he was acquitted in last December after a trial in the civilian Quebec Superior Court, and the Canadian Armed Forces also cleared him the next month.

Fortin filed a lawsuit in March against 16 high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, and the Liberal cabinet ministers who held the defence and health portfolios at the time that he was turfed from his high-profile position.

A statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which sought $6 million in damages, accused officials of negligent investigation, the inappropriate public disclosure of private facts, breach of confidence and conspiracy to cause damages.

A joint statement today from the Defence Department and the Canadian Armed Forces says the legal proceedings have been resolved and that the parties will not be commenting.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2023.