SoudasDSourceCC BY-SA 4.0Original image retained. Image reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dimitri Soudas is a Canadian business executive and entrepreneur and a former senior political adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He served as Harper's director of communications and chief spokesman until 2011 and was later executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada.
DI has documented statements by Dimitri Soudas on Military and Defense and U.S. Politics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Former director of communications to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, posting on X
Condemned
Statement summary
Dimitri Soudas, a former director of communications to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wrote on X that mocking young people in cadet uniforms says far more about the person doing the mocking than about them. The Globe and Mail also reported that he said the Canadian Cadet Organizations help young Canadians develop leadership, discipline, self-confidence and a commitment to their communities.
“Mocking these young people says far more about the person doing the mocking than it ever will about the young people wearing the uniform”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Hegseth’s post belittling Canadian cadet program draws condemnation from across political spectrumParagraph beginning "Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney" and the quotation that follows (article published September 1, 2026, updated September 2)
Why we used this label
The case asks whether Hegseth's post mocked Canadian cadets. Soudas wrote that mocking these young people says far more about the person doing the mocking than about the young people in uniform. The Globe and Mail included it among the responses to the post. It treats the post as mockery and criticizes the person behind it, so we labeled it Condemned.
Pete Hegseth reposted a photo of a Canadian cadet receiving an award, adding a Canadian flag and the words "this is real." Canadian officials, a cadet group, a Republican lawmaker and George Clooney called it mocking; the Pentagon stood by the post.
