Canadian navy lieutenant fined, reprimanded for vaping aboard ship
A navy lieutenant has been reprimanded and fined $750 for using an e-cigarette aboard a Royal Canadian Navy frigate.
Lt. Benjamin Gillis pleaded guilty Thursday to conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline at a military court hearing in Victoria.
The 30-year-old combat systems engineer was twice caught vaping in the wardroom of HMCS Calgary in October 2021.
The incidents occurred outside work hours but in the presence of several junior officers, which undermined both morale and respect for the ship's rules against smoking and vaping, the court heard.
After the first incident on Oct. 4, a colleague sent an email reminding Gillis of the ship's standing orders prohibiting e-cigarette use.
Despite the warning, the lieutenant was again seen vaping in the wardroom in the presence of junior officers on Oct. 15. This time, the lieutenant had dialed down the setting on the e-cigarette to emit little to no vapour.
"This is a case of someone who thought he could get around the rules – twice," military prosecutor Greg Moorehead told the court Thursday.
"He thought that by changing the settings on the device he could get around the rules," Moorehead said. "He was already told and reminded of the smoking policy by his superior, and this turns a simple error in judgment into something a little bit more."
Military judge Cmdr. Martin Pelletier heard that Gillis, who enrolled in the naval reserves in 2008 and earned the Canadian Forces' Decoration award for 12 years of service, was posted to HMCS Calgary – his second ship posting – from September 2021 to February 2022.
The judge acknowledged HMCS Calgary has experienced problems with its smoking policy in the past, most notably in January 2020, when the ship's executive officer was removed ahead of deployment to the Asia-Pacific region.
Lt.-Cmdr. John Forbes was found guilty on three counts of misconduct and fined $3,000 for disabling the wardroom's smoke and heat detectors so he could smoke while the ship was in San Diego, Calif.
Gillis's defence lawyer and the military prosecutor provided a joint sentencing submission Thursday, proposing the $750 fine and reprimand, which the judge accepted.
Gillis, who plans to leave the military in March, "demonstrated contempt for a very simple rule," the judge told the court, decrying the "lack of judgment by an officer of the offender's rank."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Man throws flaming liquid on New York City subway, burns fellow rider
A man set a cup of liquid on fire and tossed it at fellow subway rider in New York City, setting the victim's shirt ablaze and injuring him.
'Furiosa,' 'Garfield' lead slowest Memorial Day box office in decades
Movie theaters are looking more and more like a wasteland this summer. Neither "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" nor "The Garfield Movie" could save Memorial Day weekend, which is cruising towards a two-decade low.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Sirens sound in Tel Aviv for the first time in months as Hamas says it fired rockets from Gaza
Rocket sirens sounded across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, for the first time in months on Sunday, as Hamas claimed to have fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza.
At least 9 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region
Powerful storms killed at least nine people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.