Brig.-Gen. Mike Rouleau addresses a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Canada’s top special forces soldier has pleaded guilty to negligence after accidentally firing his weapon last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld.
GATINEAU, Que. — Canada’s top special forces soldier must pay $2,000 after accidentally firing his weapon near another military officer last year.
A military judge handed down the punishment today after Maj.-Gen. Mike Rouleau pleaded guilty at a court martial to one count of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline.
The case stems from an incident in northern Iraq last December, where 170 Canadian special forces are currently training Kurdish forces in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Rouleau and another officer were getting ready to visit a forward operating base after presenting several soldiers with medals when his rifle fired one round, according to a statement of facts read during the court martial.
The bullet hit the ground less than two feet from the other officer.
Rouleau could have faced a maximum punishment of dismissal from the military with disgrace.
But the judge, Lt.-Col. Louis-Vincent d’Auteuil, agreed that a $2,000 fine sent a sufficiently strong message about the proper handling of weapons and is in line with the punishment handed down in a number of similar cases.
The Canadian Press
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