Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comments received from the Department of National Defence.
Canadian military officials wanted the Canadian Armed Forces’ hate crimes and extremism investigation unit to open a file on soldiers vandalizing feminine hygiene product dispensers placed in male washrooms following a Liberal government mandate.
Ultimately both the National Investigation Service and the specialized Hate Crimes, Extremism, Drugs and Gang Enforcement unit turned down the requests due to a lack of evidence.
The controversy began in December 2023, following a Liberal government directive requiring military bases to provide menstrual products in men’s washrooms as part of a broader inclusivity push.
Department of National Defence access to information files obtained by True North shows military superiors scrambling to figure out why tampons and pads placed in male washrooms were disappearing.
Reports of tampons and pads being vandalized or discarded emerged from several locations, including the Denison Armory in Toronto and various bases in Petawawa, Calgary, and Ottawa.
Originally, the tampons missing from men’s washrooms were suspected to be disappearing due to “high demand.” In a Jan. 26, 2024, internal email at CFB Calgary building maintenance managers wrote: “The cleaners informed me that the tampons at Waters are almost running out due to the high demand in the men’s washrooms.”
The tampons and pads were disappearing from the male washrooms at such a rate that CAF real operations unit (West Calgary) operations officer Shaun Delamere noted that they were being restocked twice a day.
“I have confirmed with the contractor that the (tampon) bin in the second-floor men’s room has been filled twice today,” wrote Delamere on Jan. 29, 2024.
The confusion continued, with ATCO Facility Solutions struggling to keep up with tampon supplies.
“Gentlemen, I have no idea what is going on at Waters, but it seems someone may be abusing the provision of female products. The container was completely restocked this morning and is now empty again, as you will see from Bee Clean below,” ATCO Facility Solutions wrote to military staff.
“I have also asked them to use stock from other locations with lower usage to backfill the Waters Building. However, if this consumption rate continues, I will have no choice but to submit an AWR to replace these feminine hygiene products at high-use locations, like the men’s washroom at Waters Building.”
Other bases became wise to the true source of the problem – vandalism and soldiers discarding the tampons in the trash. At the Denison Armory, menstrual products were found discarded in the trash, leading Defence Construction Canada Facilities Management Coordinator Anthony Leano to halt restocking the dispensers.
Vandalism was also reported at Coventry Tower in Ottawa and New Brunswick’s CFB Gagetown. At CFB Gagetown, Sergeant Major Brian Standing complained in a Jan. 10, 2024 email that the vandalism was “not acceptable in today’s society” and failed to abide by the Liberal government’s new Labour Code directive for equitable tampon access.
Incidents continued across all of the bases mentioned and some even resulted in official complaints of theft and vandalism that were forwarded for military police intervention.
The chief military police body, CFNIS, under the direction of Captain Nic McArthur, reviewed multiple complaints but concluded that the incidents did not fall within the organization’s mandate to trigger an official investigation.
McArthur’s communication dated January 23, 2024, stated, “I have reviewed the file, and it does not meet the mandate of CFNIS. The file has been sent to CFNIS HEDGE to determine if it falls under their mandate.”
Despite this referral to the hate crimes and extremism investigation unit, CFNIS HEDGE Borden Region official Dustin Vass ultimately decided not to pursue further action, suggesting that alternative steps would suffice.
“My name is Dustin, and I work with CFNIS HEDGE in Borden. I reviewed your street check and wanted to reach out. It doesn’t meet the requirements for our mandate to be enacted,” wrote Vass.
True Noth reached out to the Department of National Defence to ask whether further incidents have occurred since those reported in the access to information documents.
DND media relations officer Major Gabriel Ferris told True North that no such incidents have been reported since the time of the request.
“CFNIS HEDGE has conducted assessments into complaints of vandalism in relation to menstrual product dispensers; none of which met the offences outlined within Criminal Code or National Defence Act as offences motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, or on any other similar factor,” said Ferris.
“None of the reported incidents appear to be serial in nature.”
According to Ferris, CAF members who fail to maintain professional conduct can face appropriate remedial measures.
“Specific minor disciplinary actions are hard to track, a specific breakdown is not available,” Ferris told True North.
“The implementation of the provisions pertaining to the free access to feminine hygiene products is a shared responsibility across DND/CAF. The management of this requirement is achieved through different means, across the country and across facilities, whether in-house, through maintenance and/or janitorial contracts or varying levels of both. The supply of these products is not tracked separately or differently than any other hygiene and sanitary products.”
Ferris said that the mandate across federally regulated workplaces “is inclusive of all workers who menstruate and it will improve the well-being of nearly half a million workers who may require menstrual products during their workdays, including cisgender women, gender diverse individuals, transgender men, and intersex individuals.”
As exclusively reported by True North in January, internal communications showed Toronto-area CAF Commanding Office Maj. Robert P. Ryan threatened soldiers who defied the inclusivity mandate with reprimands, calling the vandalism “petty acts of protest.”
“You may disagree with the decision of the Government of Canada on this issue, however, as professional members of the Defence Team you need to understand that you do not have a public opinion on government policy and are expected to fully support your fellow Defence Team members. We have members in the Garrison who are non-binary or have transitioned,” wrote Ryan.
