Concerns were raised about Lt. Col. Melanie Lake’s interactions with a foreign civilian in an August 2023 complaint to the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.
Officer's Claims and Mriya Aid Connection
A Canadian Forces officer in charge of a private organization raising funds for Ukraine told a civilian she not only had access to then-Defence Minister Anita Anand but suggested she may be able to shape how federal government funds were spent on the war-torn country. Lake was a chairperson of the Ottawa-based not-for-profit charity Mriya Aid. She left Mriya Aid in March 2023.
Other records obtained by the newspaper through the Access to Information law show the Canadian Forces concluded military personnel associated with Mriya Aid used government resources without permission. The Canadian Forces also determined military officers with Mriya Aid, as well as the associated Mriya Report charity, met with foreign officials without approval or knowledge of their commanders.
Ukrainian General Misled
One Ukrainian general was under the false impression that Mriya Aid had Canadian Forces liaison staff in Poland to co-ordinate its private relief efforts, according to documents. Military personnel also used their Canadian Forces email accounts to discuss getting Canadian government-issued export control permits so privately-acquired equipment could be shipped overseas.
It is unclear the extent Canadian government resources were used for the private ventures. Lake declined to comment.
Previous Allegations
In 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported on allegations of mismanagement and wrongdoing after Ukrainians and former Mriya Aid volunteers came forward with their concerns. The New York Times also wrote about the situation with Mriya Aid in a larger article highlighting ongoing problems with volunteer efforts for Ukraine.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) was informed by lawyer Michelle Bobb that Lake communicated with a civilian, originally from Ukraine, on how she would be meeting with Anand and then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre at a military exercise in Wainwright, Alta.
Complaint Letters
Bobb, who had been involved in helping Ukraine, provided the Ottawa Citizen with a copy of her complaint letters to the CFNIS, as well as Lake’s May 2022 messages to Walter Lekh, a Ukrainian man in the U.S. In an Aug. 9, 2023 letter to CFNIS Sgt. Valerie Cornfield and then-Lt. Col. Eric Leblanc, a CFNIS commander, Bobb questioned why federal resources were being used for the private venture and why Lake was sharing information on her interactions with Anand with a civilian living in the U.S.
“Maybe the CFNIS sees this as a normal course of business for a serving CAF officer to provide inside details about conversations with Canada’s Defence Minister but I question this,” Bobb wrote.
Lake’s messages to Lekh, which include a photo of the officer in her Canadian Forces uniform, outlined discussions on how to spend Canadian tax dollars. “What do you think are the most important needs from the Ukrainian side for me to mention when I have the Minister and CDS in my vehicle today?” Lake asked Lekh, a private citizen who at the time was collaborating with the officer. “If I can at all shape how our government procurement money is spent.”
