Canada’s top military commander committed on Monday to publicly releasing the findings of the investigation into the fire at the training range in Wainwright, Alta., which claimed the lives of four soldiers and left dozens of others injured.
There are three separate parallel investigations underway — two military and one civilian, said Gen. Jennie Carignan, the chief of the defence staff, in her first interview since a sudden brush fire swept through an exercise area at the sprawling military base.
Speaking on CBC’s Power & Politics, Carignan said the military’s investigative service is on the scene and there will be a board of inquiry (BOI), a technical investigation into the circumstances, as well as a civilian coroner’s investigation by the province of Alberta.
The military is under no obligation to proactively release its findings. Normally, the board reports to the defence chief and the minister. In fact, it took public pressure for the board of inquiry investigation into the 2004 fatal fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi to be made public.
Carignan said she was drafting the terms of reference, which set out the scope of the inquiry, for the board, but she couldn’t commit on Monday to saying when the review panel will convene.
“We want to make sure that the board of inquiry starts on firm ground,” Carignan told host David Cochrane, referring to the instructions she is preparing.
“I want to make sure that we also make the findings public once the board of inquiry is completed.”
‘Normal’ for Armed Forces to conduct training near fires: top military commander
Separately, Carignan said the Canadian Forces fire marshal is reviewing what happened. The RCMP have been asked to assist Alberta’s medical examiner.
There were tributes in the House of Commons on Monday to the soldiers killed in what military officials describe as a swift-moving brush fire that overwhelmed members of C Company 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry who were using the Wainwright training range to prepare for deployment to Latvia.
The military said the brush fire was already burning when a sudden change in the wind drove it toward roughly 84 troops who were practising hand grenade throwing and small group attacks at one portion of the exercise field.
Sgt. Morgan Wong, Pte. Shaun Farrell, Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark all died in the fire. Another 39 troops were injured, 19 of them critically.
Carignan said it’s normal for troops to continue training even if there’s a brush fire nearby because it adds to the realistic conditions they’d face in combat. There are however, she said, limits and safety is paramount.
“The folks on the ground make a determination on how this could affect training, and mitigation measures are put in place,” Carignan said. “To address this, we also have firefighting equipment or support on site to respond to potential fires, of course, depending on the magnitude.”
Tributes pour in for soldiers killed at CFB Wainwright
What we know so far about fast-moving, fatal fire
Military regulations dictate the range safety officer makes the call on whether an exercise can continue and under what circumstances.
Retired colonel Rory Fowler, a former military lawyer now in private practice, suggested the public should temper its expectations about what it will see in the board of inquiry report, particularly if there is blame to be had.
“BOIs are not supposed to investigate wrongdoing,” Fowler said. “In fact, a little over 10 years ago, [the regulation] was amended to remove an article that directed that a BOI was to identify if anyone was at fault.”
Fowler said if there is blame, it might be handled through the military justice system — or disciplinary system.
“Unlike a coroner’s inquest, the underlying purpose of a BOI is not to serve a public purpose other than the governance of the Canadian Armed Forces,” Fowler said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, after paying tribute to the fallen soldiers, said he has confidence in the system.
“The military wants to get to the bottom of what exactly happened,” Carney said. “There’s a few processes that we’ll go through here and we will get the answers to what caused this terrible tragedy as expeditiously and transparently as necessary.”
In his House of Commons remarks, Carney committed to giving the military “all the resources that they need” to investigate.
Carney says military ‘aided by’ feds and RCMP to investigate CFB Wainwright fire
Military law expert and retired colonel Michel Drapeau said Carignan’s commitment to releasing the findings is important, but only “a first step.”
Drapeau, who has represented families at a number of boards of inquiry over the past 20 years, said there needs to be more transparency as the process unfolds.
He’d like to see a commitment to proceedings being held in public where the families can attend.
“National security is not at stake here,” Drapeau said. “The family has a right to know, and the Canadian public has a right to know.”
Drapeau has long advocated for an independent body — such as an inspector general — that would conduct arm’s-length investigations.
“There is merit to the argument that the Canadian Forces should have in place a mechanism for true public inquiry,” Fowler said.
