A top civil servant contradicted Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s denial of any role in awarding former chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance a pay raise after the Prime Minister’s Office and Mr. Sajjan were made aware of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Janine Sherman, who as a deputy secretary to the cabinet is one of the most senior civil servants in the federal government, appeared at the House of Commons defence committee Friday. Citing privacy rules, she declined to answer many questions about the allegations and the government’s response, prompting an NDP MP to compare her responses to a “culture of denial and deflection” within the public service.
