Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan expressed “regret” on Friday after it emerged that he inflated his role in a 2006 offensive against the Taliban, in what was the biggest combat operation Canada had mounted in 50 years.
In a speech in India earlier this week, Sajjan called himself the “architect” of Operation Medusa, an offensive in Afghanistan in which Canada “removed about 1,500 Taliban fighters off the battlefield.”
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The remarks were written down in prepared notes and were not spoken off-the-cuff.
Sajjan played an important intelligence role in that conflict, but he wasn’t the architect.
The defence minister later issued a statement that read as follows:
“My comments were in no way intended to diminish the role that my fellow soldiers and my superiors played in Operation Medusa. I regret that I didn’t say this then, but I want to do so now.”
But that wasn’t the first time that Sajjan exaggerated his role in the operation.
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Asked about Sajjan’s remarks at a news conference addressing sexual misconduct in the military, Vance said, “I’m not really aware of this case, and quite frankly I’d like us to keep our eye on the ball about sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces today.”
Next week the defence minister will find out what MPs in the House of Commons have to say.
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