OTTAWA — A Canadian soldier who has publicly spoken out against the forced removal of hundreds of unvaccinated Armed Forces members is facing more charges.
Warrant Officer James Topp is now facing six counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline after the army reservist’s commanders laid four new charges against him last week.
The charge comes under the National Defence Act and is designed to enforce discipline in the ranks.
Two of the new charges are directly tied to Topp’s statements in two videos posted on social media in February, in which the Vancouver resident criticized vaccine requirements for military personnel and other federal employees.
The decision to charge Topp for making what military regulations call "improper comments" represents a shift as the military's case against him was initially focused on his decision to wear a military uniform while criticizing the vaccine mandates, rather than on his actual statements.
The other new charges accuse Topp of wearing a uniform incorrectly. Topp is a reservist with the Royal Westminster Regiment, but appeared in the videos in a uniform for the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, with which he previously served.
A copy of the charge sheet was provided to The Canadian Press by Topp’s civilian lawyer, Phillip Millar, who said his client plans to fight the charges in military court.
The Department of National Defence did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about the additional charges.
Millar is also hoping to use Topp’s pending court martial to wage a broader battle against the military’s vaccine mandate, which was first imposed last year and has seen hundreds of non-compliant Armed Forces members forced out of uniform.
That includes “aggressively leveraging” revelations that chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre was briefed by his senior advisers in August 2021 that an order requiring vaccines for all military members was unnecessary and may not be legal.
A copy of the briefing note was obtained by Edmonton lawyer Catherine Christensen and provided to The Canadian Press, which reported on its existence and contents on Monday.
Eyre has described the briefing note as one of several legal opinions received before handing down his vaccine order in October 2021.
The legality of the order has not been tested in court. Rather than charging those who refused to comply, the military has forced about 300 non-compliant Armed Forces members out of uniform using an administrative process called a 5F release that declares them unfit for service.
Topp, who has become a symbol of sorts for Canadians opposed to COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine mandates and perceived government overreach, has said he is facing a 5F release.
About 100 more troops have left voluntarily while hundreds more have had permanent censures put on their files.
Outside the military, most federal employees were allowed to go on leave without pay and returned to their positions after the mandate was suspended in June.
Christensen and Millar, both of whom are representing troops forced out of the military over their refusal to get vaccinated, believe the briefing note explains why the military is using 5F releases instead of charging those who refuse to comply with Eyre’s order.
“The revelation that the chain of command was briefed on the potential illegality and ineffectiveness of the vaccine mandate is crushing to the hundreds of service members who have had their careers destroyed because of politics,” Millar said.
“I will be aggressively leveraging this new information in the defence of James Topp as he at least had the courage to speak up.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2022.
Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
