Canadian soldiers are pictured prior to the arrival of Canada’s Minister of Defence in Adazi, Latvia, on February 3, 2022. (Photo by Gints Ivuskans / AFP)
Soldiers who refused COVID-19 vaccination were expelled as “unsuitable” to serve, but now a barrier for their re-enrolment has been dropped.
The Department of National Defence (DND) has confirmed to The Epoch Times the five-year waiting period for re-enrolment was waived last November by the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group.
The waiver does not apply to all releases under item 5(f) “unsuitable for further service,” but only those pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination refusal.
Those veteran candidates, if they re-apply, will still need to obtain a waiver from the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), because he authorizes all re-enrolments from soldiers who were released under 5(f).
CDS General Wayne Eyre imposed a vaccination mandate on his troops in October 2021, in line with the public service. He was caught in an administrative conundrum because policy did not allow the non-voluntary placement of non-complying soldiers on leave without pay like public servants.
Gen. Eyre also elected not to consider vaccination refusals as a breach of section 126 of the National Defence Act. This would have afforded refusers the ability to defend themselves before a court martial.
Gen. Eyre instead elected to expel members through an administrative and disciplinary process leading to the 5(f) release. This type of release is by policy reserved for members who, because of factors within their control, develop “personal weaknesses or ha[ve] domestic or other personal problems that seriously impair their usefulness to, or impose an excessive administrative burden on, the Canadian Forces.”
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) vaccine mandate remains in place to this day for operational roles, but as of October 2022 it stopped being a condition of employment.
During the period of the full mandate, DND says that 299 CAF members were released under 5(f) for refusing the COVID-19 shots. Another 108 regular force members voluntarily left while citing mandatory vaccination as the primary reason for their departure.
Little Advertised
Veterans who were released under certain non-adverse categories can normally benefit from an expedited re-enrolment process if they do so within five years of leaving the ranks.
The CAF recruiting website has a section for re-enrolments but, as of April 2024, there was no information about the 5(f) waiver. The only release categories mentioned for expedited processing are 4C (voluntary), 5B (reduction of strength), or 5C (completed service).
It appears the move has not been advertised widely, or even communicated to local recruiting centres.
One veteran kicked out for refusing vaccination, and who prefers to not reveal his identity as he seeks re-enrolment, told The Epoch Times he was recently turned back by his local recruiting centre. He was told the five-year waiting period remains in place.
DND says that as of April 22, the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group is processing a single applicant seeking re-enrolment in the regular force after being released under 5(f) for vaccine refusal.
And so far, no veteran released under the same condition has been re-enrolled, nor has any waiver from the CDS been denied.
DND spokesperson André-Anne Poulin told The Epoch Times the requests “will be processed as efficiently as possible,” when asked whether obtaining a waiver from the CDS could prolong the re-enrolment process.
Ms. Poulin added that delays could “arise due to various reasons, relating to the application itself or available resources internally at any given time, though all attempts will be made to avoid unreasonable delays.”
Delays on Grievances
Delays are something the CAF is currently known for, whether in recruiting or processing access-to-information requests. The Military Grievances External Review Committee (MGERC) told The Epoch Times in February the CDS had 58 COVID-19 related grievances on his desk for review. Some have been there for nearly a full year.
Many of those pertain to Gen. Eyre’s vaccine mandate, and he has final authority on the grievances. The MGERC has ruled in all decisions seen by The Epoch Times that the vaccine mandate was “unreasonable” and a violation of CAF members’ charter rights.
Gen. Eyre had been warned by the CAF’s Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) in February 2021 that imposing a mandate would be “fraught with legal risk,” according to the legal opinion obtained by The Epoch Times.
The general in charge of Canadian military health-care services also dismissed the idea that mandatory vaccination was necessary to keep operational readiness.
“Modelling has proven that you can safely deploy a ship with less than 100 percent vaccination,” Brigadier General Scott Malcom is paraphrased as saying during a planning meeting on the mandate in August 2021, according to documents obtained by The Epoch Times.
Hundreds of current and former CAF members have launched lawsuits against Gen. Eyre and other defence leaders in relation to COVID-19 policies.
Recruiting Woes
The five-year waiver for 5(f) released soldiers who refused COVID-19 vaccination comes at the time when the CAF is doing a hard push to boost recruiting numbers.
Defence Minister Bill Blair recently called the personnel shortage in the military a “death spiral.”
The CAF is introducing a number of measures to speed up recruiting, such as streamlining the security clearance process, creating probationary periods for new members, reviewing medical requirements, and waiving the aptitude test for certain trades and applicant profiles.
Last year, the CAF had its worst attrition rate in the last 15 years. DND’s departmental plan for 2024-2025 released on Feb. 27 says the percentage of force elements ready for operations dropped from 71 to 61 percent from financial year 2021-2022 to 2022-2023.