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Kristen Adams was working for the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services when she was sexually assaulted by a NATO soldier during her shift at a canteen operated by Canada for troops in Latvia. Photo by Photo courtesy of Kristen Adams//POSTMEDIA NEWS Photo by Photo courtesy of Kristen Adams//POSTMEDIA NEWS
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A civilian employee who was sexually assaulted while working at a Canadian military facility in Latvia has reached a confidential settlement with the federal government, ending a two-year controversy that raised questions about accountability within Canada’s overseas military operations.
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Kristen Adams, a Canadian working for the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS), was attacked by a NATO soldier in 2022 while on shift at a canteen operated by Canada in support of its mission in Latvia. The assault was confirmed in military police records.
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Following the incident, Adams filed a formal complaint and sought assistance from CFMWS and the Department of National Defence (DND). Instead, she received a written response from a CFMWS vice-president suggesting she should have “anticipated such dangers” when taking the job.
Adams has since accused both CFMWS and DND of trying to conceal the incident to avoid embarrassment for the Canadian Armed Forces’ NATO deployment in Latvia. She said she was denied proper support and that officials attempted to downplay her complaint.
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This month, DND confirmed a settlement had been reached. “The matter with Ms. Kristen Adams was resolved to the parties’ mutual satisfaction,” DND spokesperson Kened Sadiku said in an email. “No other details can be disclosed.”
The terms of the settlement — including whether Adams received compensation or a formal apology — remain confidential.
The case gained public attention in October 2023, when the Ottawa Citizen reported on Adams’ ordeal, triggering internal backlash within CFMWS. Employees criticized management for failing to support a staff member who had been assaulted while serving alongside Canada’s troops abroad.
CFMWS Chief Executive Officer Ian Poulter, a retired major general, later issued an apology to all employees over the organization’s handling of the matter — but not to Adams herself.
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Internal DND records, later obtained through access-to-information requests, reveal why. Officials wrote that they avoided sending Adams a written apology “because the story was unfolding in the pages of the Ottawa Citizen,” and they did not want further media coverage.
When asked whether Adams ever received a direct apology, Sadiku declined to comment. Poulter also declined interview requests.
The documents describe a department in damage control mode, more concerned with media fallout than employee welfare. In an email dated Oct. 25, 2023, Brig.-Gen. Brendan Cook, Chief of Staff to then–Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, warned Poulter that Adams “is likely to be coming back with more media coverage.” Cook also noted that the Minister of National Defence’s Office was applying pressure regarding the lack of apology to Adams.
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Some CFMWS managers, according to the same records, questioned whether the assault had occurred. However, multiple DND and military police reports confirm the sexual assault did take place.
Canadian military police advised Adams that they lacked jurisdiction under NATO agreements, even though the assault occurred at a Canadian facility. The case was handed over to Latvian military police, who interviewed only Adams and the alleged perpetrator before deciding not to proceed with charges.
On Dec. 14, 2022, Latvian authorities closed the investigation, finding no criminal act had occurred. Nonetheless, Canadian military police opened a “shadow file” on Jan. 3, 2023, documenting the assault and describing it as a confirmed case of sexual assault.
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Those same records also show that a Canadian general shared confidential details from Adams’ interview with CFMWS — the very organization accused of minimizing the assault — raising further concerns about privacy and internal oversight.
The CFMWS, headquartered in Ottawa, manages morale, welfare, and recreation programs for Canadian Armed Forces personnel worldwide.
Neither DND nor CFMWS has confirmed whether new policies or safeguards have been implemented in response to Adams’ case.
The government’s confidential settlement closes the matter legally, but questions remain about how a Canadian employee working under military authority abroad could be left without protection, justice, or acknowledgment.
With files from Postmedia News
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