Documents reveal the military collected a veteran’s comments on misconduct, alleging they were part of an effort to intimidate troops.
Canadian special forces collected social media posts of a veteran as well as shared his private information without permission as they tried to strip him of his right to ask for government information, according to defence department records.
Documents shared with the Ottawa Citizen show Canadian Special Operations Forces Command claimed retired corporal Daniel Abboud was trying to intimidate its elite troops by asking questions about alleged wrongdoing and making posts on various social media platforms.
Among the posts were comments about how military leaders don’t properly take care of their soldiers and concerns that commandos had engaged in alleged sexual assaults as well as other illegal acts.
One particular social media post, gathered by the special forces team as evidence, was a video of a Canadian soldier drinking a beer while parachuting over the Ottawa Valley. Abboud posted the image on the social media platform X with the comment: “The only kind of troops I support.”
Other posts from Abboud complained Canadian Forces leaders weren’t held to account or were lacking in skills and intelligence.
The monitoring of Abboud’s social media and sharing of his private data with Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard occurred after he left the military.
The Department of National Defence (DND) launched the initiative aimed at trying to strip Abboud of his right to request government information after he filed a grievance linked to his military training and raised concerns about alleged sexual assaults and other illegal acts in special forces units.
Besides copies of his military personnel records, DND also provided Maynard with a chart outlining Abboud’s social media activities.
She declined both of the department’s requests in the fall of 2022 to brand Abboud a “vexatious requester.” If DND had succeeded, the move would prevent the veteran from requesting the federal documents he sought. It also would allow military officers and DND bureaucrats the final decision on whether they responded to his future requests for records.
Maynard concluded that Abboud, a former member of Canadian special operations forces, did not abuse the federal system and his requests for information were valid.
The Access to Information Act allows any Canadian to pay $5 to make an application to receive federal documents held by a department or agency.
Abboud was trying to get records directly related to the grievance he had filed with the Canadian Forces as well as reports outlining some of the illegal acts he alleged Canadian special forces personnel in Ottawa and Petawawa had been involved in, according to DND documents.
Abboud obtained the DND records using the privacy law.
Maj.-Gen. Steve Hunter, head of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), did not respond to questions from the Ottawa Citizen about whether other surveillance measures were taken against Abboud and his family. Hunter also did not respond to questions about how many special forces personnel were involved in the efforts aimed at Abboud or how much the initiative cost taxpayers. In addition, he did not answer questions about how Abboud’s social media posts were intimidating to his special forces soldiers.
DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin stated in an email that, “We do not comment on specific cases.”
Abboud, however, alleged that CANSOFCOM and DND officials were abusing their authority. “The Canadian public should be alarmed that military resources are being used to spy on the social media accounts of citizens, in attempts to justify denying freedom of access,” he told the Ottawa Citizen. “Being a pissed off veteran does not disqualify me from my right to government transparency.”
Abboud also wrote to Anne Bank, the director in charge of DND’s access-to-information branch, noting his objections over his personnel files being shared without his permission. The veteran also raised concerns about his financial information that DND had on file and how it was being shared.
Bank did not respond to a request for comment from the Ottawa Citizen.
But according to the DND records, Bank dismissed Abboud’s concerns, noting the department didn’t think it had violated the law.
In an Oct. 11, 2022 briefing note, Bank also acknowledged the efforts against Abboud could be seen as the department “punishing” him and could prompt questions for the minister of national defence.
The CANSOFCOM chart outlining Abboud’s various social media posts included an entry in which the retired corporal questioned then-general and chief of defence staff Wayne Eyre about why his grievance file was taking so long to be processed.
Abboud filed that grievance in February 2020 and it had to do with his participation in special forces training at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. It was denied in May 2024.
Abboud’s posts questioning whether the military is a good career choice or his complaints that senior leaders don’t take care of their troops are similar to those from other veterans. In addition, veterans have gone online to question recent changes in military standards, incompetent leadership, as well as Eyre’s decision to change dress and deportment standards.
But in his farewell speech in July, Eyre hit back at his critics, claiming former Canadian Forces personnel who were complaining and posting such information were aiding Russian president Vladimir Putin and spreading Russian disinformation.
Abboud’s case, however, is not the first time the Canadian military has collected information about members of the public.
In 2021, the Ottawa Citizen reported that a military intelligence unit had monitored and collected information from people’s social media accounts in Ontario, claiming such data-mining was needed to help troops working in long term care homes during the pandemic. Negative comments made by the public about Premier Doug Ford’s government were also collected by the military.
The Canadian Forces maintained there was nothing wrong with that initiative since the information collected was from publicly available websites and social media accounts of Ontarians.
Canadian officers also compiled information on peaceful Black Lives Matter gatherings and BLM leaders. Senior military officers claimed the data was needed to ensure the success of the Canadian Forces mission to help out in long-term care homes hit by COVID-19 and to aid in the distribution of vaccines in some northern communities.
Eyre, however, admitted in June 2021 that military commanders violated federal rules and acted without authority when they ordered intelligence teams to collect information on the public as well as use other propaganda techniques against Canadians.
Abboud had also tried earlier in January 2022 to raise his concerns in a letter to then-defence minister Anita Anand, warning that CANSOFCOM “was a ticking timebomb.” He told the defence minister the command was similar to the disgraced Canadian Airborne Regiment, which was disbanded in 1995 over allegations of criminal conduct in Somalia.
Poulin stated in her email that the military and special forces take any allegations of misconduct or criminal behaviour extremely seriously, and anyone with information of such cases should bring it forward for investigation.
David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe
