If the decades-long scandal over sexual abuse and misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces has accomplished nothing else, it has created a cottage industry for retired justices of the Supreme Court of Canada – three of them so far.

Former justice Louise Deschamps was the first.  In 2015, Deschamps delivered a report that urged the government to transfer the responsibility for the investigation of misconduct complaints and the prosecution of offenders from the CAF chain of command to an independent civilian agency.

The email from an acquaintance in England the other day was short and to the point: “What the Sam Hill is going on in the Canadian military? Just one senior officer or chief of staff after another under investigation and resigned. Is anyone in control there?”

These are fair questions. What indeed is going on?

The Canadian Armed Forces is losing generals faster that it can make them. By my count, the body count stands at five. Allegations of sexual misconduct are the common denominator in four of the five cases.

They are playing the good old blame game again on Parliament Hill. This time, the game involves two familiar elements: sexual misconduct in Canadian Armed Forces and a breakdown in the chain of accountability for a reported scandal – this one a high-profile affair involving Jonathan Vance, the former chief of the defence staff.

Would anyone care to second a motion that we declare a National Day of Appreciation for Politicians? 

Anyone?

Perhaps not. Our instinct as citizens, taxpayers and voters is to criticize and condemn, not to compliment and thank, the men and women we elect to do the heavy lifting of democracy.

But surely this is an appropriate occasion – a year into the COVID-19 pandemic – to contemplate what a bruising year it has been for elected representatives. Although I’m thinking of the federal variety, provincial politicians have taken their share of the bruising.