As a VERY Jr member of the RCN (with only 3 years under my belt), I am at a loss for words to describe the feelings of confusion I have for this whole situation. I was under the impression that something of this situation was to be dealt with internally, through the proper channels. Is this not why all of our units have personnel dedicated as harassment advisers? The CF puts people through courses to act as harassment advisers, and I have been offered it once or twice already (and would take it, if training and departmental work wasn't a priority at the moment), so that we (anyone within the unit) can approach a member of the Unit Harassment Committee (or whatever the hell they're called) to report the feelings of hurt, neglect, or harassment they are receiving from another member in the unit.
I can attest to the majority of my unit's ability to "deal with it at the lowest level", having had a mess mate sleeping in a rack above mine during a port visit become ill, and accidentally missing the bucket. Thank the lord for the little curtain, or I would've worn it. Sure I was upset about it, but the member and the Senior hand of the mess looked after it, and after the young lad apologized profusely and exchanged my linens, everything was okie-dokie.
That said, I cannot relate to the whole "urinating on the floor, and posting a sign on the door that reads Female Heads" scenario. I CAN tell you that the difference between harassment and fooling around (or being a schmuck) is directly related to intent and perception. If I cried "HARRASSMENT" every time someone made a fat joke, I'd have to ensure that I was the primary person getting the crap-stick. Yeah, I'm a big dude. And yeah, I pick on myself for it (I'm probably the one person who harasses myself WAY too much). I do it as a defense mechanism. I learned long ago that if you make fun of yourself a lot, it takes the gas out of bullies when they try to do it to you. And I've done it for so long, that it actually has become somewhat of a habit. People have come to expect that no one knows what I'm going to say next, but it'll either be smart, funny, or stupid (heavy emphasis on the last one... see? I'm doing it AGAIN).
Basically, my whole thoughts on Lt(N) De Jong's scenario, from a dopey AB's perspective are this: Who was his harassment adviser? I believe it is either another Lt(N), or possibly the XO. That being the case, if he reported the event as harassment, it is essential that it is investigated and responded to in a timely manner. And, to be clear and fair, a couple of days during a foreign port visit is probably not an effective amount of time for something as intricate as harassment to be investigated and dealt with, owing to the fact that one, or both of the members involved may be floating around in town, doing whatever it is that they have planned. So, once the ship is back to sea, and all members are present and accounted for, the matter can be dealt with swiftly and, hopefully, justly. I have seen that any sort of possible harassment at sea is dealt with in a swift manner and usually has a tone of finality to it (from the experience of a departmental coworker).
So, in my opinion, had this event happened to me, I would have utilized my proper procedures by advising my proper Chain of Command, and my Harassment Adviser, about the events that had taking place. If I felt that it was being dealt with flippantly, or not at all, my next step would be to submit a Personnel Request and memo to have the incident investigated properly. I have always been told by supervisors and instructors that if I am every in doubt, get it in writing. If you cry to someone about a colleague peeing in your living space, and they tell you to suck it up and deal with it, well that's one thing, and it's one person's word against the other. If you fill out a statement/memo, well then, you have documentation to back up your claim, and in my experience, a story can be told, and told, and told again, and it never remains the same, but if you have it in writing, well, my friend, that's called EVIDENCE.
If you need to leave a unit during a deployment, use your proper channels. I'm certain that if Lt(N) De Jong had informed the ship's doc or padre, and informed them that he was suffering from undue stress due to workplace harassment, they would have moved mountains to ensure that he would not remain in such a "toxic" environment. I have seen people get landed from sails because they just couldn't handle being at sea. It isn't a weakness thing; sailing isn't for everyone. I will never look down on someone who went to sea, and couldn't handle it. I know of people who have LOADS of sea time, and still have trouble going to sea. It's all about the PERCEPTION.
Basically, Lt(N) De Jong should never have felt the need to abandon his post because of harassment. He should have felt that, even though that situation may have needed a few extra days to resolve, that a resolution would've been in place before too long, and that his "toxic work environment" would have either been rectified, or he would have been permitted to return to Halifax, without the need to turn himself in to the MPs and go through all of this hullabaloo.
As for his sentence... Well, a $5,000 fine and a severe reprimand may seem just in the light of the harassment claims, the scenario of the events, and the location of the ship when he left; however, I have done the same deployment, and I can tell you that the ship needs its LogO for this deployment. Without that position being filled, the ship would have no food, fuel, replacement parts for repairs, mail, jetties at foreign ports, or anything else that you can think of that is coordinated by the LogO. Basically everything a ship needs for it's sailors to be able to function well as a whole will, in some way, be connected to the Log Dept. I think that the people who think his sentence was too heavy or just right need to think of the bigger picture here. Not only did he leave his unit, but he held a very important position within that unit that could have potentially prevented that unit from participating in their mission. If this had been someone on the ground in Afghanistan, how would his/her court martial play out? Would it have the same results? I think not.