Military Police Complaints Commission investigating botched shooter drill on CAF base

OTTAWA — The Military Police Complaints Commission will hold public hearings to investigate what happened during a botched active-shooter drill on a Canadian Forces base last fall that reportedly left an employee injured and traumatized.

An internal report from the local garrison depot commander, obtained by The Canadian Press in February, said there was a lack of communication about a planned drill on Nov. 12 at CFB Longue-Pointe in Montreal.

The report found that civil servants were unaware the drill was happening that day and were not prepared for an exercise of that magnitude.

A Union of National Defence Employees representative said one civilian employee at the base was traumatized when he was physically assaulted after military police mistook him for a participant in the drill.

The union said police wrestled the man to the ground, ripped his clothes, pulled out his wallet and dragged him outside in the winter without proper clothing.

The union filed a complaint with the Military Police Complaints Commission, which is now planning a public interest hearing.

“The employee feared a serious incident was unfolding and believed he was being treated as a suspect,” the commission said in a statement.

“It is further alleged that before ordering him to leave, the officer communicated to the other officers outside that a ‘black employee’ was leaving, that he posed no danger and that he had just been searched.”

Commission chair Tammy Tremblay said the allegations are troubling and could represent a breach of police conduct in relation to fundamental rights.

“Investigating potential systemic issues like police brutality and racial profiling in a public forum is essential, as the findings could have implications far beyond this case for the military police,” Tremblay said in a media statement.

The drill is an annual exercise meant to train soldiers to respond to an armed attack on the base.

The internal report said that “unlike the rehearsal, the exercise began without audible alarms” and involved soldiers firing blank rounds. It said this amounted to a “significant increase in the scale and scope of the exercise from previous years without a commensurate increase in co-ordination, communication or training.”

A spokesperson for the union said in February that some employees believed they were witnessing the murder of their colleagues and were hiding, afraid for their lives. Two employees had to take leave from work as a result, and others took time off due to panic attacks, the union said.

The internal report was the result of an investigation launched on Nov. 25. The 2nd Canadian division and Canadian Forces Military Police Group were also set to investigate.

The complaints commission noted that the deputy Canadian Forces provost marshal made a decision in January “indicating, without reasons, that the conduct subject to the complaint, namely ‘training,’ is excluded from the definition of policing duties and functions.”

Tremblay said the context of the training exercise “does not negate the requirement for proper conduct and authority,” given that a person who wasn’t a participant in the drill was detained.

Dates have not yet been set for the public interest hearing.

— With files from Kyle Duggan and Emilie Bergeron

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press