Former head of national vaccine task force pleads not guilty to sexual assault charge

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander who was dismissed from his job as head of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault.

The alleged incident dates to 1988, when Fortin was a student at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

Military police referred the investigation to the Quebec prosecution service in May 2021, just days after Fortin was removed from his assignment as head of Canada’s vaccine task force.

Fortin’s lawyer, Phillippe Morneau, submitted the not guilty plea at a courthouse in Gatineau, Que. on Monday morning.

A trial date has not yet been set.

Fortin