HMCS Commander Halifax has been temporarily relieved of his duties following “several incidents” aboard the ship during Operation Reassurance, NATO’s response to Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine.
The army did not go into detail about what happened and did not name the commander in a press release sent Thursday evening. He said the incidents did not involve “sexual misconduct, harmful or inappropriate sexual behavior.”
Cmdr. Paul Mountford has taken over during the interim. He is an experienced naval officer and commander of HMCS Charlottetown. He is on the ship, which is currently in Reykjavík, Iceland.
National Defense said Mountford would continue with the deployment of Halifax until it returned to Halifax in mid-July. He said the ship’s company has been informed of the decision.
“The relief [commanding officer] of the HMCS Halifax will perform other functions within the headquarters of the Atlantic Maritime Forces in Canada until the conclusion of the investigation, “the press release states.