Defending Military Members: Criminal Charges at CFB Borden and the Barrie Courthouse

Canadian Forces Base Borden is the single largest training base in the Canadian Armed Forces, with tens of thousands of personnel passing through its gates every year. It is located in Essa Township, roughly a half-hour southwest of downtown Barrie — which means that when a CAF member is charged with a criminal offence, the matter almost always ends up across the counter at the Barrie courthouse.

Mor Fisher LLP is the established criminal defence firm nearest to the base. Over the years, and continuing today, we have defended serving members and recently-retired members on the full range of charges — impaired driving, domestic and sexual assault, simple assault, drug offences, threats, mischief, and more. Much of this work is handled by partner Jaime Mor and Senior Defence Counsel David Wilcox, both of whom have represented CAF members for many years and understand the unique pressures of a military career running headlong into a criminal charge.

This article is written for the serving member who has just been charged, the family member trying to understand what happens next, or the unit commander sorting out which system the file is about to move through. It covers how the civilian and military justice systems interact, why most Borden-area charges end up in the Barrie courthouse, what Military Police investigations look like, and what a charge really means for your career, your trade, and your clearance.

Why Most CFB Borden Charges Land in the Civilian System

Canada has two parallel prosecution systems that both have jurisdiction over serving members: the civilian criminal justice system under the Criminal Code, and the military justice system under the National Defence Act and its Code of Service Discipline. Which one handles a given charge is not arbitrary, but it is not always predictable either.

Broadly, minor disciplinary matters — late for parade, insubordination, being absent without leave, conduct that is strictly military — are handled inside the CAF through the summary hearing process. That process was significantly reformed by Bill C-77 in 2019, and a summary hearing now results in a finding of “service infraction” rather than a criminal conviction. Those proceedings will not show up on a Criminal Code record.

Serious Criminal Code offences are a different story. When a CAF member is charged with impaired driving, assault, sexual assault, fraud, or a drug offence, the decision about whether to proceed in the military or civilian system is made early — often by the Military Police and the Director of Military Prosecutions, in consultation with the local Crown. In our experience at Borden, the overwhelming majority of these files end up in the civilian system at the Barrie courthouse on Mulcaster Street. If your matter is heading there, read our Barrie courthouse guide for directions, parking, security, and how the day will unfold.

A small number of more procedurally sensitive files — particularly sexual misconduct cases involving complainants and accused who are both serving members — still proceed by court martial. If your file is one of them, we can coordinate with the Directorate of Defence Counsel Services (DCS) for the military-justice aspects of your case while continuing to provide counsel on parallel Criminal Code exposure.

Military Police Investigations Are Not the Same as Civilian Investigations

The Military Police have full jurisdiction over CAF members both on and off base. That jurisdiction overlaps with the OPP, South Simcoe Police, Barrie Police Service, and the RCMP in ways that routinely produce joint investigations. A motor-vehicle stop on Highway 90 near Angus can involve OPP on scene and MP at the station. A domestic call in PMQ housing on base will typically draw MP first, with civilian police brought in if the charges are serious enough to be prosecuted in the civilian system.

More serious files — sexual assault, impaired driving causing death or bodily harm, large-scale fraud, sensitive national security matters — are often investigated by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS), an independent investigative unit that reports up through the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal rather than the local chain of command. CFNIS investigators are experienced and well-resourced. They build comprehensive files. Their investigations can run for months before a charge is actually laid.

What this means practically for our clients:

• Disclosure often arrives in two streams. Civilian disclosure from the prosecuting Crown, and supplementary material from the MP or CFNIS file. We know to ask for both, and we know what should be in each.
• Statements to MP are statements to police. Your right to silence under section 10(b) of the Charter applies exactly the same way when the interviewer is wearing a CAF uniform. The fact that a superior officer or MP sergeant is asking the questions does not change your rights — but it does make the pressure to “just clear it up” feel much heavier. Do not give a statement without speaking to counsel first.
• Statements to chain of command carry risk. Commanding officers and assisting officers will often ask members for a version of events. Those statements may not be directly admissible in criminal court, but the notes they generate can be disclosed, and admissions can find their way into the Crown’s file. Get legal advice before speaking.
• Search and seizure law still applies. If MP seized items from your quarters, locker, or vehicle, section 8 of the Charter can still be used to challenge the search. On-base does not mean off-the-Charter.

What’s Actually at Stake: Your Career, Not Just Your Record

A civilian defence lawyer who does not work with CAF members regularly will focus on the criminal consequences — the fine, the probation, the driving prohibition, the record. Those matter. But for a serving member, the administrative and career consequences of a charge are often more serious than the criminal penalty itself.

• Administrative Review (AR) and release from the Forces. A criminal charge, and especially a conviction, can trigger an AR under DAOD 5019-2. Depending on the offence, the member may face release under QR&O Chapter 15 — including items like 5(d) “not advantageously employable” or 2(a) for misconduct. Release can happen whether or not the Crown secures a conviction.
• Security clearance. A criminal charge will normally trigger review of your security clearance. Depending on the offence and the clearance level, the result may be suspension, downgrade, or revocation. For many trades, loss of clearance effectively ends the member’s ability to do their job.
• Firearms and weapons. A firearms prohibition order imposed by a civilian court ends your ability to carry a service weapon. For any member in a combat arms trade, firing range work, or security role, this is a career-altering consequence. Bail conditions that include firearms restrictions create the same problem before there has been any finding of guilt.
• Posting, deployment, and promotion. Pending charges will usually hold up postings, promotions, and deployment. A conviction — even an absolute or conditional discharge — can close off career opportunities for years.
• Pension. For members close to their pensionable date, the stakes of a forced release versus a voluntary release are significant.

Our job is to keep these consequences in view from day one. A plea that looks acceptable to a civilian lawyer may be unworkable for a serving member. A bail condition that makes sense on paper may put a soldier on the wrong side of a chain-of-command order.

Charges We See Regularly From CAF Members

Impaired driving, over 80, and refusal. By volume, this is the most common set of charges we see from Borden clients. Highway 400, Highway 90, and the corridor out to Angus and Alliston produce a steady flow of RIDE stops and roadside screening demands. Members often call us within hours of being released from custody. The civilian impaired driving consequences — Ontario licence suspension, ignition interlock, insurance — are significant on their own. Combined with the CAF implications for drivers whose trade depends on operating equipment, the total cost of a conviction is often a career.

Domestic assault. Allegations between partners, particularly where the couple lives in PMQ housing or where one partner is also a serving member, are investigated aggressively and charged readily. Our domestic assault page sets out the basics of the mandatory-charge policy and the PARS program. For CAF clients, the additional layer is that the bail conditions can prevent the member from returning to their own quarters and from accessing the base, which creates immediate accommodation and duty problems. We focus on negotiating conditions that keep the member housed and employable while the matter is pending.

Sexual assault. These are among the most serious cases we handle. Our lawyers have defended CAF members on historical allegations going back decades, on allegations involving civilian complainants, and on allegations involving other serving members. Jaime Mor’s practice has particular depth in sexual assault defence, including appellate work — he overturned a sexual assault conviction at the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. J.J., 2020 ONCA 138. David Wilcox has defended these cases in Barrie since the 1980s. Where the file is prosecuted civilian-side, expect Crown screening forms, section 276/278 applications, and a long timeline. Where the file proceeds by court martial, we coordinate with DCS and provide parallel advice on administrative consequences.

Assault, threats, and mischief. Fights at bars in Angus, altercations at base functions, mischief to vehicles or property — these matters almost always end up in the civilian system in Barrie. Early, well-prepared Crown pre-trials can often produce resolutions that avoid a conviction — peace bonds, withdrawals on undertakings, or diversion, depending on the member’s record and the strength of the Crown’s case.

Drug offences. Personal-use possession charges are rare post-legalization for cannabis, but we still see trafficking allegations, prescription drug offences, and harder-drug possession-for-the-purpose charges. A drug conviction is particularly damaging for security clearance.

Firearms offences. Service members charged with Criminal Code firearms offences — whether tied to personal firearms, unauthorized possession, or storage-related allegations — face both the Criminal Code consequences and an immediate set of CAF implications. We handle these files directly and, where relevant, coordinate with the member’s unit.

Our Office Is a Short Drive From the Base

Our main office at 31 Clapperton Street in downtown Barrie is a five-minute walk from the courthouse and about a thirty-minute drive from the base in normal traffic. Most meetings happen here. We can also meet virtually, and we can make after-hours arrangements for members who are on course or deployed.

From Base Borden, the fastest route is typically Highway 90 East to Highway 400 North, exiting at Dunlop Street or Bayfield Street for the downtown. On court days, build in an extra twenty minutes — parking in the Collier Street area fills up quickly on Monday mornings. If this is your first appearance, our first court appearance article walks through exactly what will happen when you stand up.

Who Handles Your File

• Jaime Mor — Partner. Practices criminal defence exclusively, with particular depth in complex drug files, sexual assault defence, Charter applications, and criminal appeals. Former director of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association. Regularly appears in Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, and beyond, including the Ontario Court of Appeal.

• David Wilcox — Senior Defence Counsel. Has practised criminal defence in Barrie since 1987 — nearly forty years in these courts. Deep relationships with the Simcoe County Crown’s office and judiciary. Has represented CAF members on the full range of charges, from impaired driving to serious sexual offences.

Both lawyers work out of our Barrie office and are directly involved in the files they take on. When you retain David or Jaime, that is the lawyer who shows up in the courtroom.

Talk to Us Before You Talk to Anyone Else

If you have just been charged, or if you know that MP or CFNIS are investigating and a charge may be coming, the earlier you speak to us the more options you will have. Before you give a statement to MP, before you speak with your chain of command about the allegation, and before you decide whether to self-report, call us.

Consultations are free and confidential. Phone 705-721-6642 or contact us online. We can triage the call, explain the likely path your file will take, and — where it helps — start coordinating with DCS and your unit from the very first conversation.