Domestic Stories

HMCS MONTRÉAL – MILITARY BOARD OF INQUIRY

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

For full coverage of this issue, follow this link to the MARLANT website: http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/marlant/releases/marlant_releases_e.asp?category=4

Rear-Admiral Dan McNeil, Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic, announced today that a military Board of Inquiry (BOI) has been convened to investigate the loss at sea of Leading Seaman Robert Ivan LeBlanc that occurred on Tuesday, February 8th, 2005.

Commander Sean Cantelon (biography attached) will head the inquiry. He, along with the other two members of the BOI, shall make findings as to the causes of the incident as well as any contributing factors. They will obtain statements from witnesses and collect all documentary and material evidence to arrive at their findings. In addition, four advisors will be available to the BOI in order to provide subject matter expertise.

At the completion of the military BOI, a report will be submitted to Rear-Admiral McNeil for review and then forwarded to the Chief of the Maritime Staff. The findings, results, and recommendations will then be made public, subject to the limitations on the release of information imposed by the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.

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COMMANDER SEAN CANTELON, CD
COMMANDING OFFICER
HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN

Commander Cantelon was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1963. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1982 un-der the Regular Officer Training Plan and graduated from Royal Military College in 1986.

He was awarded his commission in 1986 and then saw duty aboard HMCS GATINEAU as both a Bridge Watchkeeper and Warfare Director. During this appointment he participated in numerous exercises with the Atlantic Fleet and two major deployments with the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic.  In 1991 Commander Cantelon was appointed as Com-munications Officer in HMCS VANCOUVER and par-ticipated in many of the early trials with the then new HALIFAX CLASS.  In 1993 he proceed ashore for language training and a subsequent position as Official Language Coordinator for CFB HALIFAX.    He graduated from the Operations Room Officers course with the Anti Air Warfare Controller specialty in 1995 and was appointed as Weapons Officer HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN.  While aboard CHARLOTTETOWN, Commander Cantelon was part of the team that brought CHARLOTTETOWN through her first Work Ups to operational status.  He departed from CHARLOTTETOWN in 1998 after completing numerous exercises with the high readiness task group and two major deployments with the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic.

Upon promotion to Lieutenant Commander, in 1998, he joined Sea Training Atlantic as the Weapons Offi-cer.  He attended the Canadian Forces College com-pleting the Command and Staff Course in 2000.  Ap-pointed as the Executive Officer of HMCS TORONTO in 2000, Commander Cantelon participated in Opera-tion Enduring Freedom in the fall of 2001 as part of NATO's response to the war on terror.  In 2002 he proceed ashore to the position of Senior Staff Officer Military Personal in Maritime Forces Atlantic Head-quarters.  Promoted to Commander in 2003 he was posted to the Canadian Force Maritime Warfare Cen-tre as Director Operational Test and Evaluation.

Commander Cantelon was appointed to command of HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN in July 2004.

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