NATIONALIZE PIPELINES

Tech audit of Colonial Pipeline found 'glaring' problems

BOSTON (AP) — An outside audit three years ago of the major East Coast pipeline company hit by a cyberattack found “atrocious” information management practices and “a patchwork of poorly connected and secured systems,” its author told The Associated Press.

“We found glaring deficiencies and big problems,” said Robert F. Smallwood, whose consulting firm delivered an 89-page report in January 2018 after a six-month audit. “I mean an eighth-grader could have hacked into that system.”

How far the company, Colonial Pipeline, went to address the vulnerabilities isn't clear. Colonial said Wednesday that since 2017, it has hired four independent firms for cybersecurity risk assessments and increased its overall IT spending by more than 50%. While it did not specify an amount, it said it has spent tens of millions of dollars.

"We are constantly assessing and improving our security practices — both physical and digital,” the privately held Georgia company said in response to questions from the AP about the audit's findings. It did not name the firms who did cybersecurity work but one firm, Rausch Advisory Services, located in Atlanta near Colonial's headquarters, acknowledged being among them. Colonial's chief information officer sits on Rausch's advisory board.

Colonial has not said how the hackers penetrated its network. How vulnerable it was to compromise is sure to be intensely scrutinized by federal authorities and cybersecurity experts as they consider how the most damaging cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure might have been prevented.

Friday's pipeline shutdown has led to distribution problems and panic-buying, draining supplies at thousands of gas stations in the Southeast. Colonial said it initiated the restart of pipeline operations on Wednesday afternoon and that it would take several days for supply delivery to return to normal.

Ransomware attacks have reached epidemic levels as foreign criminal gangs paralyze computer networks at state and local governments, police departments, hospitals and universities — demanding large sums to decrypt the data. Many organizations have failed to invest in the safeguards needed to fend off such attacks, though U.S. officials worry even more about state-backed foreign hackers doing more serious damage.

Any shortcomings by Colonial would be especially egregious given its critical role in the U.S. energy system, providing the East Coast with 45% of its gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products.

Smallwood, a partner at iMERGE and managing director of the Institute for Information Governance, said he prepared a 24-month, $1.3 million plan for Colonial. While iMERGE’s audit was not directly focused on cybersecurity “we found many security issues, and that was put in the report.”

Colonial’s statements Wednesday suggest it may have heeded a number of Smallwood’s recommendations. In addition, it says it has active monitoring and overlapping threat-detection systems on its network and identified the ransomware attack “as soon as we learned of it.” Colonial said its IT network is strictly segregated from pipeline control systems, which were not affected by the ransomware.

Unlike electrical utilities, the pipeline industry is not subject to mandatory cybersecurity standards, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair, Richard Glick, called for in a statement Tuesday.

Smallwood’s study was not a cybersecurity audit. It focused on ensuring smooth operations and preventing data theft, which is exactly what Colonial suffered last week. Colonial is not saying what the cybercriminals took before activating the ransomware.

The hackers, from a Russian-speaking syndicate called DarkSide, steal data before locking up networks to doubly extort victims. If a victim refuses to pay, they not only refuse to unscramble the data, they threaten to release sensitive material online. Colonial has not said whether it paid DarkSide.

Smallwood read portions of his report to the AP but would not share it because he said some of the content is confidential. He said he was paid about $50,000 for it.

He cited, for example, Colonial's inability to locate a particular maintenance document. "You’re supposed to be able to find it within 15 minutes. It took them three weeks.”

Locating such a document could be crucial in responding to an accident or keeping up-to-date pipeline inspection records to prevent leaks, Smallwood said.

Colonial experienced one of the worst gasoline spills in U.S. history last August, contaminating a nature preserve north of Charlotte . After it was discovered by two teenagers, the spill's severity was not immediately clear as Colonial's initial reports indicated a far lower volume. North Carolina environmental regulators angrily called the company's failure to promptly provide reliable data unacceptable. Colonial says it released the best available data on spill volume as the discovery progressed.

Separately, shippers have complained to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that Colonial inflated what it spends on pipeline integrity to deflect accusations it overcharges them. Colonial rejects this, citing the rising costs of safely maintaining its system.

Bill Caram, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog Pipeline Safety Trust, called worrisome the allegations of deficient IT management, piecemeal spill reporting and pipeline integrity issues.

“I think all these things just could paint a picture of the culture at Colonial maybe not taking risks seriously enough,” he said.

Smallwood said he was reluctant to go public about the Colonial audit for fear of alienating future clients “but the gravity of the situation demands that the public know just how fragile some of these systems within our infrastructure are.”

One of his main recommendations was that Colonial hire a chief information security officer, a position that cybersecurity experts consider essential in any company with infrastructure vital to national security. Colonial said it instead assigned those responsibilities to a subordinate of chief information officer Marie Mouchet.

Mouchet was on the advisory board of Rausch when it did a cybersecurity study for Colonial concurrent to Smallwood’s audit. Asked if that might present a conflict of interest, Rausch CEO Michael Lisenby said Mochet's advisory board seat is an unpaid, voluntary position.

Smallwood’s recommendations included a data loss prevention program to ensure highly confidential, marketable data — such as details on how the pipeline is used — could not be easily removed.

Colonial says it has strengthened data-loss-prevention defenses with three different software tools that provide alerts when data leaves the network.

Smallwood said he found no security-awareness training, which mostly teaches employees not to fall victim to phishing, the cause of more than 90% of cyber-intrusions. But Colonial said its expanded cybersecurity regime includes regular simulated phishing campaigns for employees.

The audit “covered environmental procurement, legal risk, business development, asset integrity, accounting and tax safety operations, information technology, (Microsoft) SharePoint and human resources. And so it was a very comprehensive assessment,” said Smallwood.

Originally founded by nine oil companies in 1962, Colonial is privately held. It's owners include a pair of private equity firms, a Canadian fund manager, a Koch Industries subsidiary and a subsidiary of Shell Midstream Partners. The company does not release earnings or revenue figures.

___

This story has been updated to correct reference to one of the owners of Colonial. It is a Koch Industries subsidiary, not a Koch Brothers subsidiary.

Frank Bajak, The Associated Press

Biden: White House in 'very close contact' with Colonial Pipeline on shutdown, fuel shortage

Courtney Subramanian
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Wednesday his administration is in "very close contact" with Colonial Pipeline after a cyberattack disrupted fuel deliveries and threatened a gas shortage across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in recent days.

"We have been in very, very close contact with Colonial Pipeline, which is the one area you’re talking about - one of the reasons gasoline prices are going up," Biden told reporters during remarks on the COVID-19 vaccine campaign.

Colonial Pipeline issued a statement following the president's remarks announcing that it restarted its pipeline operations after temporarily closing it for six days. The company said it would take several days before its supply chain could return to normal.

Biden's comments came as officials urged Americans not to hoard gas, including advising against filling up plastic bags of gasoline, and the administration worked to find alternative ways to deliver gas amid the temporary shutdown of Colonial Pipeline, a major system that delivers fuel across the East Coast.

The FBI announced last Friday that hackers known as DarkSide hit the Colonial Pipeline system with a ransomware attack, which takes computerized systems hostage until a payment is made.

The incident,along with the SolarWinds hack on U.S. federal agencies last year and a cyber breach of Microsoft Exchange, raised fresh questions about the vulnerability of the U.S. infrastructure system.

In response, Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to modernize the nation's cyber defense, according to a senior administration official.

The order includes removing contractual barriers to allow IT service providers to share breach information with government officials, establishing baseline security standards for commercial software sold to the government, creating a standard playbook for cyber incident responses and establishing a cybersecurity safety review board led by government and private sector officials.

The official said the order was the first of many steps the government would take to confront cybersecurity threats but reflected a shift in the administration's mindset from incident response to prevention.
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More:Colonial Pipeline restarted operations, owners say 'it will take several days' for supply chain to return to normal

More:Continued gas shortages? Panic buying after Colonial Pipeline cyberattack won't solve the problem, experts say.

Panicked drivers rushed to fill up their tanks, fearing a gas shortage, even though pipeline officials have said they expect to "substantially" restore service by the end of the week, likely limiting most of the fallout.

According to AAA Gas Prices, which conducts a daily survey, the national average price for gas rose 8 cents from a week ago to $3.01, marking the first time national prices have topped $3 since 2014. The impact is largely concentrated in the Southeast, with station outages occurring throughout the region.

Biden and other White House officials have sought to allay concerns by issuing emergency waivers to ease restrictions on the distribution of fuel and assist in supply challenges

"I have in the meantime made it easier for us to have lifted some of the restrictions on the transportation of fuel, as well as access to the United States military providing fuel and with vehicles to get it there, places where it's badly needed," Biden told reporters.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters earlier on Wednesday the administration was "working around the clock" to tackle the delays caused by the pipeline shutdown.

Buttigieg, who appeared alongside Michael Regan, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, outlined the steps the administration has taken in recent days, including surveying the availability of vessels that are qualified to carry petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico and up the eastern seaboard and issuing waivers to extend the hours during which drivers can transport fuel.


He also said the White House determined that 10 states can use existing federal major debt disaster declarations to issue permits that allow drivers to temporarily carry additional gasoline that would ordinarily exceed existing weight limits on federal highways in their state.

Buttigieg, who is among the administration officials pushing Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, said the incident was a reminder that the U.S. infrastructure needed to be more resilient.

"This is not an extra, this is not a luxury, this is not an option,” he said. “This has to be core to how we secure critical infrastructure.”

Contributing: Brett Molina, Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY

#FREEINTERNETFORALL

Internet Subsidy Gives $50 A Month Discounts For Low-Income Americans


The pandemic has underscored the importance of having a reliable internet connection, with adults dependent on it for work and young people reliant on it for their education.Nam Y. Huh/AP

Financially strapped American families are now eligible for an emergency discount on their internet service under a COVID-19 relief program that went into effect on Wednesday.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit program from the Federal Communications Commission provides a discount of up to $50 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. It also gives low-income families a $100 discount for the purchase of a laptop or desktop computer, or a tablet. However, the FCC reports, Cox and Windstream are the only providers participating in this benefit so far.

The pandemic has underscored the importance of having a reliable internet connection, with adults dependent on it for work and young people reliant on it for their education. Expanding high-speed internet access is a priority for the Biden administration which has placed Vice President Harris in charge of the endeavor. The White House has asked Congress for $100 billion to make broadband more affordable and to carry it to rural areas that have been left behind by the tech advances.
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"High-speed internet service is vital for families to take advantage of today's health, education, and workplace opportunities," Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chair of the FCC, said in a statement. "And the discount for laptops and desktop computers will continue to have positive impact even after this temporary discount program wraps up."

The $3.2 billion temporary pandemic subsidy was approved by Congress late last year but it's taken months for the FCC to finalize the rules of the program.

Only those Americans who already qualify for free and reduced-price school lunch programs, are recipients of a federal Pell Grant, experienced a substantial loss of income since early 2020, or meet eligibility criteria for participating providers' existing low-income or COVID-19 programs are eligible to apply for the benefits. People can access the funds until the money runs out or up to six months after the Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic.

Earlier this week the FCC approved the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which sets aside nearly $7.2 billion to help schools and libraries provide devices and connectivity to students, school staff, and library patrons during the pandemic.

NATIONALIZE BIG PHARMA
Private equity group swoops on pharma services provider UDG Healthcare with a £2.6bn bid

By MATT OLIVER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 12 May 2021

Private equity buyers have swooped on pharmaceuticals services provider UDG Healthcare with a £2.6billion bid.

The London-listed firm urged shareholders to back the cash offer from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which is worth 1023p per share. That is a 21.5 per cent premium on UDG’s closing price on Tuesday.

It is the latest British company to fall into private equity hands after a string of deals, including approaches which were made for John Laing and St Modwen last week.


Pharmaceuticals services provider UDG Healthcare has urged shareholders to back a £2.6bn cash offer from private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

Analysts say the bonanza is being fuelled by a perception that UK firms appear ‘cheap’, due to the weak pound and the knock to share prices in the pandemic.

UDG’s shares leapt more than 20 per cent in response to the takeover bid.

They closed up 20.7 per cent, or 174p, at 1016p.

Shane Cooke, chairman of Dublin-based UDG, insisted the board was ‘confident’ in its future prospects but that the takeover bid was ‘an attractive offer for shareholders’.

‘The offer reflects the quality, strength and long-term performance of UDG’s businesses and its future growth potential,’ he added.


‘We believe that our people, our clients and our businesses will continue to prosper under the stewardship of CD&R.’

Eric Rouzier, partner at CD&R, said: ‘UDG has long established itself as a leading provider of high-value services to pharma and biotech companies globally, supported by a highly skilled workforce.’

UDG, which has its headquarters in Dublin, specialises in healthcare advisory, communications, commercial, clinical and packaging services.

Its manufacturing services include making placebos used in clinical trials.

However, the offer premium of 21.5 per cent is lower than the average of 36 per cent that has been offered in a string of other recent deals, according to AJ Bell.

Russ Mould, AJ Bell’s investment director, said that the avalanche of bids ‘suggests that someone, somewhere feels UK companies are still going cheap’.

He said overseas buyers were attracted by the weak pound, which still sits below levels reached ahead of the EU referendum in 2016, giving them improved buying power.

UDG also reported for the six months the end of March, showing that revenues fell 5 per cent to £469million but profits rose 5 per cent to £46million

APARTHEID ISRAEL

Mob 'lynching of Arab' aired live on Israeli TV

By AFP - May 13,2021 - 

This video grab obtained from a footage released by Kan 11 Public broadcaster on Wednesday, shows a far-right Israeli mob attacking who they considered an Arab man, on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, a town south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv (AFP photo)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Fooage of a far-right Israeli mob attacking a man near Tel Aviv they believed to be an Arab was aired live on television Wednesday night, as the Israel-Palestinian conflict raged on.

The shocking images show a man being forcibly removed from his car and beaten by a crowd of dozens until he lost consciousness.

The attack, broadcast by public broadcaster Kan, took place on the seafront promenade of Bat Yam, south of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv.

Police and emergency services did not arrive on the scene until 15 minutes later, while the victim lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street.

Those in the crowd justified the attack by saying the man was an Arab who had tried to ram the far-right nationalists, but the footage shows a motorist trying to avoid the demonstration.

"The victim of the lynching is seriously injured but stable," Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital said in a statement, without revealing his identity.



Issawi Fredj, an Arab deputy from the left-wing Meretz party, said the images were a sign that the country was heading towards "civil war".

Demonstrations by far-right activists broke out Wednesday night in several cities, leading to clashes with police and sometimes Arab Israelis.

Police said they were responding to violent incidents in cities including Acre, Haifa and Lod.

In Acre, a mixed Arab-Jewish town in northwest Israel, a Jew was seriously injured by stone throwers, police said.

"The rioters in Lod and Acre do not represent Israeli Arabs, the rioters in Bat Yam... do not represent Israeli Jews, violence will not dictate our lives," said opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is currently tasked with forming a government after March elections.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have launched hundreds of rockets since Monday at Israel, which has carried out air strikes on the crowded coastal enclave.

The most intense hostilities in seven years between Israel and Gaza's armed groups were triggered by weekend unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Polish bishop resigns after probe into cover-up allegations

OPPOSES LGBTQ RIGHTS COVERS UP CHILD ABUSE

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop following a Vatican investigation into alleged negligence in addressing cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests under the bishop's authority.

The forced departure of Bishop Jan Tyrawa was the latest in a string of sanctions the pope has meted out since mid-2020 to Polish Catholic Church leaders over cases of cover-up of sexual abuse by other priests.

The Vatican Embassy in Poland said that on Wednesday Francis accepted Tyrawa's resignation from the diocese of Bydgoszcz, in central Poland, and placed Bishop Wieslaw Smigiel from the neighboring Torun diocese temporarily in charge.

The Vatican communique said the investigation was launched in response to signs of negligence in addressing sex abuse of minors. It didn't say what the findings were concerning these allegations.

It said Tyrawa handed in his resignation after the probe was concluded and also due to some other difficulties in the running of the diocese.

Tyrawa was mentioned among other cases described in TV documentaries in Poland about alleged sex abuse by priests and cover-up by their superiors. The allegations came as a shock in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

The Associated Press

Prosecutors shelves probe of gang rape that shocked Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian prosecutors said they have shelved their months-long investigation into an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel, ordering the release of all suspects for lack of evidence.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The case shocked Egypt’s conservative society when it was revealed last year by a social media account that tracks alleged sexual assaults in the country.

In a detailed statement late Tuesday, prosecutors said evidence collected during their nearly nine-month investigation was not enough to refer the case to a criminal court. The statement said witnesses gave conflicted testimonies.

Prosecutors ordered the release of the four suspects, who were arrested last year and jailed pending investigations. Three of them were arrested in Lebanon and deported to Cairo last year.

Prosecutors said the probe could be reopened if new evidence emerges.

The alleged gang rape involves a group of young men from wealthy and powerful families. They allegedly drugged the teen at a party at a five-star Cairo hotel, then took turns raping her.

Accounts of the alleged assault surfaced amid a renewed #MeToo campaign on social media that swept Egypt last summer.

Potential witnesses in the suspected gang rape case and acquaintances were arrested as private, explicit videos purportedly from their phones circulated via private messenger apps. Some of them were later released.

In a joint statement Wednesday, seven Egyptian rights groups asked prosecutors to reconsider their decision. The groups, including the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said prosecutors ignored the arrest and intimidation of some of the witnesses, which “undoubtedly contributed to such regrettable outcome.”

The investigation into the hotel case uncovered another alleged gang rape in the North Coast resort on Mediterranean. Three suspects were referred to criminal trial last month in that resort case.

The Associated Press

Doctor apologizes for letting a registered sex offender into a retreat for sex assault survivors

Ashley Burke, Kristen Everson 

© Laura Osman, CBC News Dr. Manuela Joannou has posted a public apology to participants in one of her therapy retreats.

The doctor running Project Trauma Support now says she regrets her decision to allow a registered sex offender to peer mentor a group of sexual assault survivors with post traumatic stress disorder under her care.

Seven female first responders and Canadian Forces veterans shared their story publicly with CBC News yesterday. They said their trust was violated by Dr. Manuela Joannou because she failed to tell them their peer mentor recently had been convicted in two separate cases of sexual assault before attending the six-day trauma retreat in July 2018.

CBC News obtained an image of a statement posted by Joannou to Facebook on Wednesday apologizing to participants in her program.


"I am deeply saddened by the compounded hurt and pain that having a registered sex offender as a mentor on our program in 2018 has caused for so many people," Joannou wrote in the Facebook post.

"If I had a chance to do it all over again, this would not have happened. Did we make some errors in our early efforts? Undoubtedly, but it has shaped our awareness and our methods going forward."

The post comes a day after Joannou, in an exchange with CBC News, defended her actions and did not apologize for using retired Canadian Forces major Jonathan Hamilton as a peer mentor at the retreat.

Retreat participants said they were upset that Joannou's public apology came after several major donors to the program — including the Mood Disorder Society of Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion — severed ties with her charity in the wake of CBC's report and said they would not be funding it in future.

Joannou said she started Project Trauma in 2015 as a suicide prevention program. CBC News spoke to a Canadian Forces member who said she became suicidal after taking part in the program.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) investigated the case and advised Joannou in 2019 to be more careful in her hiring practices.

In her Facebook apology, Joannou wrote she now has code-of-conduct agreements for peer mentors to sign and is conducting police background checks on them.

"We fully intend to continue to offer our programming as we feel it is unethical to cease our mission that has resonated with so many," wrote Joannou. "We are committed to doing better …"

The Centre of Excellence on PTSD said Joannou's actions contravened its member agreement and it will no longer affiliate with her or Project Trauma Support.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with those women impacted by this egregious act and recognize the deep hurt associated with this situation," said the Centre's CEO and president Dr. Patrick Smith in a media statement.

Military doctor stepping away from Project Trauma

The Canadian Armed Forces confirms its chief of rehabilitation medication has now left his volunteer role with Project Trauma Support in the wake of the story.

Lt.-Col. Markus Besemann, who has spent his career rehabilitating injured soldiers, had been volunteering with Project Trauma Support and is featured in uniform on the program's website. Some of the participants said they took part in 2018 because of Besemann's reputation in this field.

The Office of the Veterans Ombudsman said retired Brig.-Gen.Paul Rutherford has resigned from his role on the veteran's ombudsman advisory council and his name has been removed from its website in light of the CBC story.

Rutherford is the chair of Project Trauma Support's board of directors and also was an adviser to the veterans ombudsman. He and Joannou signed a letter in response to CBC's report, saying that "the truth cannot be realized by listening to one side of the story."

Veterans ombudsman Nishika Jardine said she was "deeply disturbed" by participants' accounts.

"No one who has experienced sexual trauma should be placed in a position where a peer support mentor is a sex offender," said Jardine in a statement to CBC News. "Individuals who have experienced this type of trauma need the safest space possible to promote their healing."

© Hallie Cotnam/CBC Female participants of Project Trauma Support take part in a group hug at the centre of a labyrinth in Perth, Ont.

Crown attorney did not grant approval

Some of the women who participated in the retreat only learned the full extent of the mentor's criminal past this month after CBC News published a story about the military's handling of one of his court cases.

In 2017, a justice found Hamilton guilty of unlawfully entering a Kingston home and sexually assaulting retired Capt. Annalise Schamuhn on two different occasions. Hamilton also was convicted of twice physically assaulting Schamuhn's husband, retired major Kevin Schamuhn.

Hamilton was sentenced to three years parole as a result, according to the attorney general's office.

In a second, unrelated case, Hamilton was sentenced to three years in custody on April 20, 2018 after a jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault.

Joannou had told the CPSO she had permission from the Crown attorney and the court for Hamilton to participate in Project Trauma Support, according to a report from the college obtained by CBC News.

But the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General said Wednesday that while it did consent to Hamilton staying there as part of his community service, the Crown did not grant permission for him to be a peer mentor.

"I can confirm that the Crown did not authorize Mr. Hamilton's participation in any peer mentoring groups," ministry spokesperson Brian Gray said in a statement to CBC News.

The Canadian Military’s Sexual Misconduct Crisis Explained
Zi-Ann Lum 

Provided by Chatelaine The Canadian flag waving in front of the The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence in Ottawa.

The Canadian military is embroiled in another moment of reckoning. Separate allegations of sexual misconduct against former chief of defence staff General Jonathan Vance and his successor, Admiral Art McDonald, have spurred a controversy that is testing the armed forces’ commitment to eradicating sexual harassment and violence—and the federal government’s “feminist approach” to policy. (Vance has denied the allegations and McDonald has not commented publicly, citing an ongoing investigation.)

It’s déjà vu for survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the military. The issue has been repeatedly raised in recent decades, and it’s clear that sexual harassment and assault of military employees is a systemic problem. Now, a new review—the second in six years—has been launched to draft recommendations for the creation of an external agency to have oversight of the armed forces. Here’s what you need to know:
How did this controversy start?

The latest controversy involves Vance and McDonald, but Canada’s military culture has long been criticized for failing to protect victims of sexual harassment and assault.

In 1998, Maclean’s wrote about “a pattern of sexual harassment and assault” in the Canadian military, interviewing 13 women who said they were sexually assaulted in the armed forces. The survivors experienced nervous breakdowns and depression as well as at least one attempted suicide, reporters wrote. “All have left the Forces, heartbroken that their careers were shattered and angry that the military response worsened their conditions.” When the magazine revisited the issue in 2014, they found little evidence of a culture shift. The military “sometimes still closes its eyes to victims of sexual assault, and even punishes the women who denounce their rapists, rejecting them the very moment they start heading down the spiral of trauma.” The 2014 Maclean’s investigation also stated that an estimated five people are sexually assaulted every day in the military community.

The latest allegations came to light in February, when Global News first reported that Vance—who had retired in January—was facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour. Weeks later, McDonald, his successor, temporarily stepped aside as chief of defence staff after a separate misconduct allegation was made against him related to an incident in 2010 involving a female junior officer. (Global News has also reported on a separate allegation against Vance that involves a second female subordinate and a 2012 email invitation to “a trip to a clothing optional vacation destination.”) These revelations put pressure on the defence minister and prime minister’s office to explain who knew what—when. For the armed forces, it has exposed hypocrisy in the chain of command and undermined the work of high-profile campaigns to end sexual misconduct in the military.

Who are the people involved—and what have politicians said?

Maj. Kellie Brennan came forward publicly with allegations against Vance. She told a House of Commons committee in April that they had a 20-year sexual relationship which started when he was her boss and continued when he was chief of the defence staff. He fathered two of her children, she said, and provided no financial support.

Lieut. Heather Macdonald came forward after details of her case involving allegations against McDonald, then the chief of defence staff, were leaked without her consent. She told Global News she wanted to draw attention to the double standard within Operation Honour, the military’s mission to change its culture to track and prevent sexual misconduct. There’s no independent process to hold senior troops accountable for their actions, she said.

Former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne told a Commons committee that he raised allegations of misconduct against Vance with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in a meeting in March 2018. Walbourne said Sajjan refused to review the evidence. Sajjan later told the committee Walbourne was wrong to come to him on the matter, suggesting his involvement in a potential investigation would risk politicizing it. Walbourne should have known this, Sajjan said. “In our society, the last thing we want is for elected politicians to make decisions that investigators need to make independently.” Despite having the authority to ask for an investigation, Sajjan referred the case to the Privy Council Office, a branch of government that supports the prime minister’s office and cabinet. The military ombudsman office, however, is not permitted to share details about a case to anyone without written consent from the complainant, which Walbourne did not have.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he personally did not have any knowledge about the allegation against Vance in 2018 and that “no one knew it was a Me Too complaint.” When members of a parliamentary committee asked why Trudeau was not informed of the allegation, his chief of staff, Katie Telford, told MPs during the May 7 hearing that they didn’t know any details of the complaint at the time. The Liberal government committed to making the military a workplace free from harassment and discrimination in 2015, Telford said, but acknowledged they have yet to achieve that goal.
How is misconduct and harassment reported in the military?

The military’s investigative arm is the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS). It’s the branch that is also responsible for investigating “serious or sensitive offences” including allegations of sexual misconduct. But concerns have long been raised about the efficacy of the military investigating itself using its own justice system. The CFNIS launched investigations into the allegations against Vance and McDonald earlier this year. Systemic issues, including inadequate training and the fact that an overwhelming majority of its investigators are male, as reported by Global News, are considered factors why some women are reluctant to report incidents in the first place.

Complaints can also be filed with the military ombudsman office. But the office is hamstrung with how a probe can proceed: it can share information related to a case or investigation with police or public servants only with the written consent of the complainant for privacy reasons.

How has the military responded?

Vance has denied all the allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him. McDonald has declined to respond to the allegation against him. The two investigations exploring the allegations against both Vance and McDonald remain ongoing.

The Canadian military has a problem with how it handles sexual misconduct and harassment within its ranks: That was the conclusion from former supreme court justice Marie Deschamps’ 2015 report that described an endemic “hostile, sexual environment” that has become normalized to create a culture “where no one speaks up and which functions to deter victims from reporting sexual misconduct.” The Canadian Armed Forces had hired Deschamps to write the external report in response to Maclean’s 2014 investigation.

One recommendation was to follow in the footsteps of the United States, Australia, and France and create offices independent from the military responsible for receiving and investigating complaints. These agencies would also provide support to victims and training to members. There was “very little accountability in the chain of command or the military police as to the outcome of any particular incident,” Deschamps found. The lack of statistics also stymied efforts to address sexual misconduct. The military launched Operation Honour later that year, led by Vance. In the five years since Operation Honour launched, the military has recorded 581 reports of sexual assault.

The Canadian military has yet to set up an independent centre for accountability to handle allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, as reccomended by Deschamp’s 2015 report.

What did the prime minister’s office know about the allegations against top military brass?

It’s unclear who in the prime minister’s office was the first to learn about the allegation against Vance. Elder Marques, a former senior advisor in Trudeau’s office, said he first heard about the allegation through either Telford or a member of her staff in early March 2018. Telford, on the other hand, has said that she learned about the allegation from Marques.

Marques told a parliamentary committee in April that a request from the former military ombudsman for an independent review into the allegation against Vance was approved by the Privy Council Office. “I received their confirmation that they would be taking further steps, I had no further involvement in this matter,” Marques said. Though there was little information available, Marques told MPs on the committee that he presumed the allegation against Vance “could be of a sexual nature.”

Why has this topic become a source of debate and discussion now?

The new allegations have renewed attention over the military’s failure to change a culture that is, as described by Deschamps, “hostile to women and LGTBQ members, and conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault.” Though some witnesses have told MPs that some improvements have been made in the military in terms of efforts to change a sexualized military culture that either, as Deschamps wrote, “[condoned] inappropriate sexual conduct” or turned “a blind-eye” to it, new testimonies give evidence of a problem that continues to exist.

Leah West was a former armoured officer and served in the military for 10 years. She told CBC’s The Current that when she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer from her unit, despite the military police’s involvement, there was no investigation. Her story shows a double standard: when she breached the military’s fraternization rule with a consensual relationship while she was deployed in Afghanistan, West was charged and returned to Canada for disobeying an order. “Women in the military are held to such a different standard. In every way,” West told CBC host Matt Galloway.

Emily Tulloch, an aviation technician, joined the military in July 2018. She told a parliamentary committee in April that she was raped in her first month of basic training and has experienced a “lifetime’s worth of sexual assault and misconduct” in her service since. Tulloch said she believes in the importance of the armed forces, but the military police handling her case made her feel like a criminal. Operation Honour got the conversation going, but its credibility has matured into a joke, she said, it’s time to end it and start something new.

“For many of us, Op Honour has aged like rotten milk. It just leaves a sour taste in your mouth,” Tulloch said. “To make matters worse, in a cruel irony, it’s apparent that the man who created the whole operation is now being investigated under the same pretenses that he swore to fix.”

Florida takes step toward the catching of goliath grouper

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) —

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A divided board of Florida game regulators took a tentative step Wednesday that might eventually allow fishermen to catch and kill goliath groupers, a fish that was almost driven to extinction 30 years ago by overfishing and pollution.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told its staff to craft a regulation it has proposed that would allow 100 goliaths to be caught and kept annually during a four-year period. Supported by fishing groups, the proposed limited harvest calls for a lottery to issue $300-per-week licenses that allow each recipient to catch and kill one goliath, with proceeds funding research of the species.

But board members said that did not mean the regulation would ultimately be approved even over the next few years, saying the science may not support its quick adoption.

There were questions about whether the fish, which typically weigh 400 pounds (180 kilograms) but can exceed 800 pounds (360 kilograms), has seen its population sufficiently recover. The commissioners did, however, seem to oppose a permanent ban, saying a harvest should be allowed eventually. Goliath grouper is not allowed to be caught in any other state or federal waters.

Commissioner Robert Spottswood believes the population is getting near a point where a limited harvest can be allowed. He said many of the arguments against a harvest are based on emotion. While the species’ population is unknown, the commission's staff believes it has grown enough to allow the limited catch.

“We can't just be stuck because there is a philosophy out there that says this big lovable creature can never be taken again,” Spottswood said during the Tallahassee meeting.

But Commissioner Gary Nicklaus said the reports that the goliaths' population is nearing recovery is based upon where it was when it was close to extinction, not when it was abundant in the 1950s. He said the biggest economic benefit the goliath provides to the state is drawing scuba divers who want to swim with it and photograph it.

“I think we should protect it until its population comes back to whatever baseline we want that to be,” said Nicklaus, the son of retired pro golfer Jack Nicklaus.

The goliath once ranged over a wide swath of ocean territory, from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil. But its numbers dropped sharply starting in the 1960s. By 1990, when Florida banned its catch, it was almost gone because of overfishing.

Today, the goliath is found mainly off South Florida. Adults live in reefs and shipwrecks, digging holes that provide hiding spaces for other fish.

Public comment to the board was about equally divided Wednesday. A prime example was scuba divers — some called it a nuisance and told commissioners they want to hunt it on spearfishing trips, while others saw the fish as photogenic and said it should be protected. The goliath is popular with both spearfishers and photographers as it does not flee when divers approach.

Dick Kempton, a member of the St. Pete Underwater Club, spoke in support of the harvest plan, saying the fish is becoming too plentiful in the waters around Tampa Bay and that is impacting other species.

“There are goliath grouper everywhere,” Kempton said, especially at shipwrecks and other underwater structures. “They eat everything that comes by ... There is plenty of stock out there. A limited harvest is not going to affect that at all."

But Tom Ingram, president of the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association, said the goliath draws divers to the state who simply want to see and photograph them. He said it will take at least another 10 years for the goliath to recover.

“Goliath grouper are still considered vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature," Ingram said. He asked the commission to implement a permanent ban on the catching of goliaths, saying they are as important to the economy at manatees, which are protected.

The proposal as currently envisioned would limit the size of goliaths that could be killed to a range of 4 to 6.5 feet (1.2 to 2 meters) and 70 to 200 pounds (32 to 90 kilograms) — that’s a young adult of 7 to 10 years. Older fish are high in the neurotoxin methylmercury, which is especially dangerous to children and pregnant women.

Outside that range they would be released, just like all goliaths caught now are supposed to be, though poaching is a problem. Goliaths have a lifespan of 35 years or more. Fishing would also remain banned during their spawning season of July to September and at their spawning spots.

Terry Spencer, The Associated Press