One of the senior military officers who golfed with former chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance has the power to direct military investigations.

Vice-chief of the defence staff Lieutenant-general Mike Rouleau’s power was recently flagged in an occasionally scathing report on the military justice system by retired Supreme Court Justice Morris Fish.

The report notes that legislation passed in 2013 gives the military’s second-in-command the power to issue orders to the military’s top police when it comes to investigations.

Fish says that power poses a threat to the independence of military probes and should be abolished.

Fish’s report was released on June 1st, one day before media reports say Rouleau and Royal Canadian Navy commander Vice-Admiral Craig Baines joined Vance for a game of golf in Ottawa. Military police are currently investigating Vance on allegations of sexual misconduct.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjans’s office says the golf game was unacceptable and that the minister would be speaking with acting defence chief Lieutenant-general Wayne Eyre about Rouleau and Baines.