Defence Minister Peter MacKay expressed his disgust on Wednesday toward the people responsible for calling military families with false reports of loved ones being killed in Afghanistan.
"I can't tell you how deplorable and despicable an act this is. To put those families through that stress is just disgusting in every stretch of the word," Mackay told reporters in Ottawa.
"If we have sufficient evidence and, working with local police, if we can find those responsible they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
The relatives of at least three soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been called and told their loved one had been killed.
Although only one person has made an official complaint about the prank calls to officials at CFB Valcartier, the military have heard reports of three such calls received last week.
An official at CFB Valcartier says a prankster called one soldier's wife in the middle of the night and told her that her husband had been killed by a bomb on the battlefield.
MacKay said the Canadian Forces will continue working with the families to provide counselling for those who were traumatized by the prank.
"I can't think of anything that is more deplorable than what they were doing," he said.
The military is stressing that such information would never be delivered over the phone.
The calls are currently under investigation by the military.
Anyone with information about the source of the prank calls is asked to call their local police.
With files from The Canadian Press
