Fortin files court challenge of firing from vaccine rollout

OTTAWA — The military commander who was removed from his post as the head of vaccine logistics last month is alleging his dismissal involved political interference by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and two of his cabinet ministers.

Lawyers on Monday asked the Federal Court for a judicial review of the decision last month to fire Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin from his posting as vice-president for operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada and not reassign him.

Fortin was removed May 14, around the same time as the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service referred a sexual misconduct investigation to the Quebec prosecution service to determine whether criminal charges should be laid.

Through his lawyers, Fortin has denied any wrongdoing.

The court application says the decision to remove Fortin and not reassign him was unreasonable, lacked procedural fairness and involved “improper political interference in the military chain of command” by Trudeau, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Health Minister Patty Hajdu.

None of the allegations has been tested in court.

The application also says the announcement of his termination breached his right to keep his personal information private and fuelled public speculation without the appropriate context, causing irreparable harm to his reputation.