Dimitri Soudas
Role at the time: Former director of communications to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, posting on X
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”
The Globe and Mail report, with a report from The Canadian Press, on the response across Canada's political spectrum to Hegseth's post about a Canadian cadet training centre. It quotes Prime Minister Mark Carney, B.C. Premier David Eby, Jason Kenney, Dimitri Soudas and MP Garnett Genuis, and the Pentagon's reply.
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.