Aizaz Chaudhry and his wife Nazli Aizaz spoke about the loss of their son, Absar Chaudhry while he was at the Royal Military College in Kingston. The couple have unanswered questions about his death. They were photographed at their Ottawa home, on May 1.Ashley Fraser/The Globe and Mail
In the absence of their son, the military sent Nazli Aizaz and Aizaz Chaudhry a framed photo.
It leans against a chair in their dining room, still wrapped in brown packing paper. Too painful to permanently unveil, Absar Chaudhry’s mother, Nazli, steals brief glances at her perfectly coiffed son through rips in the paper.
“I don’t have the nerve to keep it uncovered,” she says, her voice cracking as she folds the paper back in place.
The portrait rests beside the nine packing boxes the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) returned to the family’s suburban Ottawa home after their son was found dead in his Kingston, Ont., dorm room on Nov. 30. Months later, the boxes still sit in their dining room and the questions about what happened to their 21-year-old son remain unanswered.
The couple were informed by the Ontario coroner’s office two weeks ago that their son’s death was determined to be a suicide. They want to understand why he took his own life, but they aren’t getting answers. He apparently didn’t leave a note and despite two military probes into his death, his parents have yet to be told what investigators have learned about the factors that contributed to his death.
The couple are taking the Canadian Forces to court in an effort to shed light on its insular, secretive investigative process. They are questioning the legitimacy of the military investigating itself and are asking for full standing at the military’s board of inquiry studying the incident. They want to be represented by a lawyer at the inquiry and question witnesses, and for the proceedings to be public.
After one year in engineering studies at Carleton University, Absar Chaudhry transferred to RMC in the hopes of following astronaut Chris Hadfield’s footsteps.Courtesy of family
Absar moved to Canada from Pakistan with his parents and two brothers in 2008. His parents say he had no history of mental-health concerns and they describe their middle son as intelligent and driven. He started his engineering studies at Carleton University, where he excelled and landed on the dean’s honour list. But after his first year, he transferred to RMC in the hopes of following astronaut Chris Hadfield’s footsteps.
Photos of the officer cadet at RMC show Absar laughing as he stares through a scope and grinning in a harness. In his first two years at RMC, his parents say he only became more confident and outgoing. But they noticed a change in his demeanour in the days leading up to his death: He was more stressed, quiet, and worried about his grades in an academic course at RMC.
Sudden-death probes are still the purview of military investigators, so Absar’s death was investigated by military police, unlike military sexual assault cases, which are now investigated by civilian police. The family asked that civilian police investigate his death instead to ensure a more independent probe – but that request was rejected by the government. In a letter to the family, Defence Minister Anita Anand didn’t explain why, but noted it fell under military-police jurisdiction.
A separate board of inquiry is also being held, but it’s shrouded in secrecy. The boards are led by members of the Forces, with no jury, and the board determines what evidence and testimony families can hear during the inquiry and what information to disclose once the board is complete.
Boxes of Absar’s belongings that were sent home from RMC sit in the family's living room.Ashley Fraser/Globe and Mail
The couple’s lawyers, Michel Drapeau and Joshua Juneau, say the board process shields RMC and the military from scrutiny. Without outside counsel, the public or the media in attendance, Mr. Drapeau said even if troubling information does come up, “we’ll never find out.”
The situation is different in Britain, where non-combat military deaths are subject to civilian coroner’s inquests. Those are held in public, with juries and where families can be granted standing to take part in the proceedings and question witnesses.
While there are some cases where military sudden deaths might require more confidentiality because of national-security concerns, Mr. Juneau said the same veil of secrecy shouldn’t be granted to the military for non-combat deaths. He said he is at a “loss to understand” why the military is still allowed to review those deaths internally.
The military ombudsman has also raised concerns about how families are treated during boards of inquiry and since 2015 has recommended that families be given the “option of engagement throughout” a board of inquiry.
Eight years later, Mr. Drapeau said little has changed, with families largely left on the sidelines.
The family has separately asked the Ontario coroner to launch a discretionary inquest into Absar’s death. Coroners in Alberta and Nova Scotia have launched such probes of military sudden deaths, but the parents’ lawyer said one has never been granted in Ontario.
Mr. Drapeau said the situation is all the more unacceptable because of a number of past suicides at RMC, a well-documented toxic culture at the school, and a pattern of bereaved families getting the runaround from military officials and investigators.
Aizaz Chaudhry and his wife Nazli Aizaz are taking the Canadian Forces to court to shed light on its insular, secretive investigative process over their son's death.Ashley Fraser/Globe and Mail
Sitting side-by-side in their living room, Nazli and Aizaz said they are speaking out to warn other parents. Since Absar’s death, they say they’ve received contradictory information about his life at RMC. Officials at the school will only say there were “no red flags” on their son’s file, that he was an ideal candidate for the military and doing well in school, the parents say.
But fellow students told them Absar had stopped attending classes in mid-November, that he had been singled out and assigned daily supplementary physical training (despite passing his physical fitness tests) and had been called for a performance review.
The information dried up after one cadet told the family that cadets had been banned from sharing more information with them.
Unbeknownst to the family, Absar had also recently applied for leave without pay.
Taken together, they wonder if their son was the victim of bullying or abuses of power – issues that have been well-documented at RMC.
Last year’s report on sexual misconduct in the military from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour described a “discriminatory culture” at Canada’s military colleges. She found cadets live in a “breeding ground for peer pressure and toxic relationships” and a “significant problem with harassment, bullying and sexual misconduct.”
In his first two years at RMC, Absar's parents say he became more confident and outgoing, but they noticed a change in his demeanour in the days leading up to his death.Courtesy of family
In her response to the Arbour report, Ms. Anand defended the value of Canada’s military colleges, but agreed that they “must fundamentally change.” The government is striking a Canadian Military Colleges Review Board, with members expected to be announced this summer.
Absar’s parents said they did not know about the problems at RMC and thought their son was going to a relatively privileged university where students are paid by the military, costs are covered and student-to-staff ratios are low. They say they were shocked to hear from an RMC staff member that there were multiple suicide attempts on campus last fall.
RMC did not respond to The Globe and Mail’s questions about those incidents. It redirected questions to the military, which also did not share information, citing privacy concerns.
Absar’s parents turned to the Federal Court to seek access to the board of inquiry after the military denied their direct requests and refused to meet them in the presence of their lawyers.
While Nazli expected empathy and transparency after her son’s death, she said RMC has instead responded with tight-lipped secrecy. “They should have comforted us, they should have said, ‘We will do everything to find out,’ but that’s not the case.”
The government has yet to file a response to the family’s request for standing in court. In a statement to The Globe, Canadian Forces spokesperson Daniel Le Bouthillier said RMC’s priority is to ensure officer cadets are “cared for and supported,” and that the military extends its condolences to Absar’s family, “whom we will continue to support.” The military declined to address any of the specific concerns raised by the family, noting the pending board of inquiry.
Aizaz Chaudhry and Nazli Aizaz have asked the Ontario coroner to launch a discretionary inquest into Absar’s death.Ashley Fraser/Globe and Mail
Similarly, after Nazli and Aizaz sent Ms. Anand a letter in January raising their concerns about the military investigating itself, Ms. Anand defended the process, noting that the family will be “informed of the board’s findings and recommendations.”
But Mr. Drapeau said that overstates what families receive. In addition to selectively sharing evidence with the families, the final report that is released is often years late and heavily redacted. Mr. Juneau said those redactions have in the past also been applied to the final findings and recommendations.
Meanwhile, the family’s fight to get answers is leading to more delays. The military said the board of inquiry won’t hear from witnesses until the family’s court application is resolved.
Devastated by the loss of their middle son, Aizaz said they will mortgage their house if necessary in order to cover the legal fees needed to find out what happened.
Reeling from grief, the couple say they’re hanging on through the love for their three sons: comforting two through the loss of their brother and pursuing answers in the hopes of finding justice for their middle child.
“Who will fight for him? The Government of Canada is not interested,” Aizaz said.
“But we will fight. As parents, what else can we do?”
With a report from Stephanie Chambers.
Marieke Walsh