Enemy Within: Are Canada's Military Leaders Deliberately Undermining the Armed Forces (Exclusive Interview)

In a second interview with RAIR Foundation USA, retired Canadian Captain James Formosa reveals that despite the effective suspension of vaccine mandates in the Canadian military, discrimination continues. He also discusses his suspicion that military leaders are deliberately undermining the Canadian armed forces. 

Since his discharge from the Canadian army on July 5^th, Formosa has been in the spotlight, speaking up about his assertion that vaccine exemptions are disproportionately issued to the higher ranks and those posted close to the geographic center of power. In an earlier interview, Formosa explained that he discovered, through the armed forces own intranet, that 14.6 percent of Captains, 55 percent of Majors, and 100 percent of Lt.-colonels received approval for their vaccine exemptions.

Formosa is in contact with people still serving and what he has heard is disturbing. Despite the fact that vaccine mandates for the military were suspended on June 14^th, some members had previously won an exemption and are once again facing discrimination. “Chains of command are trying to release them, even now,” says Formosa. “One member has reached out to me to tell me that their request was approved at their old unit, but now at their new unit, they are having to restart the process.” 

Formosa’s discharge remains under appeal with the Chief of Defense staff. He does not know when he will get an answer, but he does know that the whole process “betrayed a shocking lack of familiarity with their own policies, which they were attempting to leverage against us,” he says. “For instance, for my religious accommodation request, the main argument given against me by Brigadier General Awalt was that I did not tie my religious beliefs to a ‘corporate religious authority.’ In the military, there is something in the DOAD subsection formulated for religious accommodations; it says explicitly in that directive that when any member of any kind comes to their chain of command looking for a religious or spiritual exemption, that all that member needs to demonstrate is a sincerely held personal belief and that it in no way needs to conform to any established religious tradition or authority figure. Nevertheless, the only argument provided to me was that I didn’t tie my religious belief to an authority figure.” All of this indicates that the military can now decide what is an accepted religious authority. The church is now subordinate to the military and government. 

Prior to discharge, Formosa became a troop commander for several months and was responsible for teaching the men under his command. He told them about the theory of Yuri Bezmanov, a KGB press and propaganda agent who defected to Canada in 1970, whereby Marxist subversion would eventually work through western institutions. Formosa asked them to think about how this might apply to their lives. “I was warned in a progress report that I was giving soldiers training that was not relevant,” recalls Formosa. “My gravest concern is the possibility that some of my superiors are playing directly into the hand of that which I was trying to illuminate for my troops. The new battlespace is in the hearts and minds of people – psy-ops and propaganda campaigns can be way more effective. You can win an ideological battle and then have a war won for you before you fire a shot.” 

The Canadian military is supposed to be non-partisan. “The Canadian public needs to wake up to the fact that not just over the last two years – but maybe more so – the highest ranks have shown partisan favoritism to the current ruling political class,” says Formosa. “I fear it’s a deliberate attempt to weaken us as a fighting force to make us as combat ineffective as possible.” 

Pondering his recent experiences, Formosa encourages everyone to stand up for their beliefs. “It’s imperative that everyone understand that knowledge is power,” he says. “Become conversant in these topics – political systems, media, military, academia and be aware of the direct inversion of principles in our society. Stand up for the values and principles you believe in, stand calmly, speak with educated conviction. It’s hard to quantify the impact you will have. Your action as an individual will embolden people to be a force for positive change in this country.”