Well, the secret is out.
Some of my coworkers and supervisors encountered the news stories published by the CBC and the Calgary Herald after the Alberta Court of King’s Bench publicly released the decision of Justice Neufeld that has allowed my class action against the Canadian Armed Forces to proceed and that I am allowed to be the representative plaintiff in this matter.
And the whispers have been wafting around the department.
I’ve never been one for the whisper game, so I thought that I would nip this in the bud and get in front of it before it becomes some out of control monster.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-class-action-lawsuit-military-child-abuse-1.7402756
https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abkb/doc/2024/2024abkb704/2024abkb704.pdf
- Yes, I was a military dependent
- Yes, the Canadian Armed Forces had (and it still does) its own “in-house” justice system that was completely beyond the review of the municipal or provincial police forces and did not involve the provincial crown prosecutors or answer to the provincial Attorney General.
- Yes, the Canadian Armed Forces hid a massive child sexual abuse scandal on Canadian Forces Base Namao.
- Yes, I received treatment from a military social worker for the “homosexuality” that I exhibited by allowing myself to be molested on CFB Namao
- Yes, my social worker was a captain while my father was a lowly master corporal bound by the National Defence Act to respect and obey the “lawful” commands and opinions of the captain.
- Yes, my family was moved from base in one province to another base in another province to avoid my apprehension for protection by the provincial authorities.
More details will come out as this matter heads into court. Which is why I am writing this as opposed to waiting for different aspects to hit the media.
The most contentious topic of this whole matter is what I intend to do after this matter is wrapped up.
I had some dealings with my father between 2006 and 2010 that indicated that he still blamed me for “allowing” my younger brother to be molested on CFB Namao. It was really these dealing with my father that drove me to get this albatross from around my neck.
I first went to the Edmonton Police Service in March of 2011 to try to deal with this matter.
Within days the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service took this case away from the Edmonton Police Service and then spent the next 8 months driving this case into the ground while at the same time trying to frame me as a “societal malcontent with an axe to grind against the Canadian Forces” trying to fleece the military for some easy money.
Even former Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan personally accused me of trying to scam the military for easy money.
I’ve been running my blogs on this matter since 2011. This story has flown under the radar of the media since 2011. The media is a fickle beast. It won’t touch a story like mine until it actually hits the courts. The news rooms are just too afraid of lawsuits.
The only time that the media ever really showed any interest previously was in 2020 when David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen ran a few stories about how the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces were fighting me tooth and nail to keep me from obtaining the Canadian Forces Special Investigations Unit paperwork and the Courts Martial transcripts from the 1980 investigation of Captain Father Angus McRae because the DND and the CAF knew that the paperwork would show that I had been telling the truth about 1978 to 1980.
In the end I did get my hands on the paperwork.
And yes, it verified that I had been right about the events of 1978 to 1980.
As soon as I had the paperwork in hand I contacted a few lawyers and I ended up with a lawyer that is well versed with class action matters.
I’ve had dealings with my lawyers and the Department of Justice for the last 4 years now.
And this brings me to the contentious topic.
Medical Assistance in Dying.
Normally I would keep these matters like this to myself, but seeing as how it looks as if the media is going to touch on this I thought that I would address this.
Here is my address to the Senate Committee:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/AMAD/Brief/BR11776079/br-external/GarnetBobbie-e.pdf
Initially, the Department of Justice was opposing me becoming the representative plaintiff due to my desire to undergo Medical Assistance in Dying for Mental Illness.
M.A.i.D. for M.I. was supposed to be legalized on March 17th, 2023. But our spineless politicians caved and kicked it back to March 17th, 2024.
Well, March 17th, 2024 rolled around and the government caved to the hysterical dogooders once again and this time it delayed the legalization of M.A.i.D. for M.I. until March 17th of 2027. These constant delays are in and of themselves a form of cruelty.
Why do I desire M.A.i.D.?
The list is far too long for me to get into here, but suffice to say that military bases were not safe environments for children, especially not for children from dysfunctional families.
The trauma that we endured on base, often in complete silence, isolated from the civilian agencies designed to protect children.
Historically the Canadian Armed Forces have been very leery of acknowledging spousal abuse in the military communities. It was far worse for the children.
In many ways my mental health would probably be better today if no one knew about the sexual abuse from 1978 to 1980. However, contrary to the protests of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service in 2011, a whole shit load of people in the Canadian Armed Forces chain of command were very well aware of what happened on the base fro 1978 to 1980 and made the decision to hide this matter from the Canadian Public. Even my own father knew the truth, but playing dumb and following his orders kept him employed.
Even though I was diagnosed as having major depression, severe anxiety, hapehphobia, and a whole lot of other issues due to the abuse, I was never allowed to receive treatment for these issues. If I had to take an educated guess it would seem that the Canadian Forces realized that if I had been institutionalized for treatment that the Canadian Armed Forces would lose their “wall of secrecy” once I started talking to my civilian doctors and care workers and the whole CFB Namao affair would become public knowledge.
In fact I wouldn’t learn about these diagnoses until August of 2011.
So, that means that I spent a lifetime dragging around my many untreated daemons with me.
Always being blamed for being an asshole.
Always being accused of being “too good” to hang around with people.
Always being accused of doing things just for attention.
And let me tell you, there are a great many people out there that can sniff mental illness and further victimize the sufferer.
I’ve done the best that I could.
As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, I missed out on so much in life and I’ve suffered so much in life.
So no, my desire for M.A.i.D. has nothing to do with work or anyone at work.
This is a matter between myself and the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence.
Nothing will happen between now and March 17th, 2027 at the earliest. But this is why I will not be going to the New Saint Paul’s.
I’ve been working since I left my father’s PMQ just after I turned 16. And I have no intention on working right until the end.
I want to take a break.
And no, this isn’t so that I can “enjoy life”. I can assure you that depression and anxiety shit all over any accomplishment that I undertake.
I just want a breather. Just some time to myself.
I’m hoping that my class action doesn’t take that long to settle and that it wraps up sometime around the time the old St. Paul’s shuts down in 2027.
And no. I will not be receiving M.A.i.D. at any hospital or health care facility in Canada.
People like me have to obtain M.A.i.D. at places out of the public eye where we can die alone and not disturb the great narrative that everything in life is just peachy keen and that people who want M.A.i.D. for M.I. are just self centred assholes who only think about themselves and who only care about themselves.
Beeshive 