Bruce Poulin

Bruce Poulin is a Franco-Ontarian born in Vanier, Ontario in 1962. He attended the Royal Military College and served in the Canadian army for 22 years in both the regular and reserve components as an Armored Corps Officer (Regiment de Hull), Artillery officer (5 RALC) and later as a Public Affairs officer, retiring as a junior officer at the rank of Captain. He graduated with First Class Honors from the Royal Military College in Kingston in 1992 and became the first military officer on active duty to be awarded a scholarship and attend the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, studying international relations and specializing in conflict management, where he graduated in 1994. For the next several years Poulin was employed as a speech-writer for several senior general officers including Lt-Gen. Romeo Dallaire (Rwanda), Gen. Maurice Baril (leadership crisis in the Army), Gen. Ray Henault (NATO air bombing campaign over Kosovo), and the current Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk (NATO air bombing campaign over Kosovo).
Controversy
Poulin gained some notoriety in 1998 when it was revealed that he had submitted allegations of inappropriate behavior, as related to him by a waitress working in the Fort Frontenac Officers' Mess, against the Commanding Officer at the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff School ] Kingston. Poulin had met the waitress because she was working at the Officers' Mess while he was a student on the CLFCSC Course in 1996. Upon his return to his home unit, after graduating from the subject course, Poulin brought the waitress' allegations to the attention of his superiors. It is worth noting here that the Commandant of CLFCSC, had previously commanded the Canadian Airborne Regiment during the Somalia Affair. Moreover, it would appear that, in 1996, the Deputy Commander of the Army general receiving Poulin's complaint generally agreed with Poulin's assessment of Labbé's performance as commandant of the staff college (he was replaced as commandant shortly after Poulin's allegations, though not necessarily as a result of them).
Problems for Poulin began in 1998 - two years after his memo from 1996 became public knowledge and after it had mysteriously disappeared from the Army Commander's personal filing cabinet in his office. Henceforth, Poulin became the subject of considerable scrutiny by both the media and his superiors. He felt that this attention was unwarranted since all he did was report what he had seen and heard while he attended CLFCSC in Kingston after being directed to do so by the Deputy Commander of the Army in 1996. The real focus, according to Poulin, was why nothing was ever done regarding the allegations contained in the subject memo. In the Fall of 1998, Poulin felt that his stillborn complaints of "shooting the messenger" had become untenable. After finding himself under five separate military police investigations which he could only categorize as being "vindictive", Poulin submitted a series of complaints against several senior officers on such charges as dereliction of duty and abuse of authority. A sweeping investigation by the Ombudsman of the Canadian Forces found no basis to most of these allegations, though he did make several recommendations related to improved record-keeping and directed the Chief of Defense Staff to send a "letter of regret" to Captain Poulin. Of particular note were the recommendations made to the Military Police which categorically refused to adopt the Ombudsman's recommendations regarding their conduct towards Poulin or their news releases regarding this case. After retiring from the military in 2001, Poulin started a consulting business and works for the Royal Canadian Legion as a service officer where he represents veterans in their claims for compensation for their injuries sustained in the line of duty.
Civic and political involvement
Poulin has served as a Ward Councillor in Kingston while he was posted to the Royal Military College. As a competitve hockey Coach for the East Ottawa Vanier Voyageurs he claims to have been the first to argue to allow girls to play on his all-boys team. He volunteers with the St. John Ambulance and occasionally speaks at high schools in Ottawa and Gatineau. He is also an active member of the Eastview Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Knights of Columbus, the Moose Lodge, the Centre Francophone de Vanier and the Optimist Club. Poulin is a recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal distributed in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's fiftieth anniversary as Queen of Canada and awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to their community and country.
Poulin was the acclaimed candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party's Ottawa-Vanier riding in the 2007 Ontario Provincial election, during which he caused some controversy by using a quote from a letter of reference he received from the Chief of the Defence Staff in June 2001 following his decision to retire from the Canadian Forces. Poulin had used this letter of reference several times when he had applied for jobs and he saw no problems in quoting from it for his campaign brochure. The specific quote published in the brochure cited Poulin for being an officer "..of strong principles and conviction, with the courage to stand up for others and himself when he perceived an injustice." The letter of reference went on to say that Poulin: "...is an intelligent, committed individual who has served his country with honour." Poulin kept this "character reference" quote in subsequent editions of his brochure despite the objections of the now-retired author of the letter, General Maurice Baril. He placed second of six candidates in the riding during the election. He holds the distinction of having been endorsed by the independent candidate who later withdrew his candidacy. He also holds the distinction of being the first PC candidate in the history of the riding to be endorsed by the Ottawa Citizen. He was also the only Ontario candidate to be featured in a nation-wide National Post profile during the campaign. In February 2008, Poulin was awarded the Trillium Award for being one of the outstanding PC candidates in the province of Ontario during the 2007 provincial election. Since November 2007 Poulin has resumed his work with the Legion and continues to be an active member of his community.

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