Office of the Ombudsman - DPR - 2012-13

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Office of the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces

The Ombudsman's office contributes to substantial, long-lasting change in the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Independent of the military chain of command and civilian management, the Ombudsman reports directly to the Minister of National Defence (MND) and helps to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all members of Canada’s Defence community.

The office is a direct source of information, referral and education for Defence employees, CAF members and their families. It helps individuals access channels of assistance or redress when they have a complaint. The office also investigates complaints and serves as a neutral third party on matters related to the Department and the CAF and, when necessary, reports publicly on these issues.

More broadly, the Ombudsman has a mandate to investigate and make recommendations to improve the overall well-being and quality of life of the members of the Defence community. Investigations from the office have produced significant improvements in the CAF, including important changes in the areas of post-traumatic stress disorder and operational stress injuries.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-13, the office received 1,539 new cases from CAF members, civilian employees, military family members and other constituents related to benefits, release from military service, medical issues, recruiting, military postings, redress of grievance, harassment, the Reserve Force pension plan, civilian classification grievances and other issues.

Over the past FY, the Ombudsman's office also completed and released two systemic investigations. In September 2012, the office released the results of its third follow-up investigation into the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder and other operational stress injuries in the CAF. The report entitled Fortitude Under Fatigue: Assessing the Delivery of Care for Operational Stress Injuries that Canadian Forces Members Need and Deserve, determined the status of the nine recommendations contained in two previous 2008 reports. Following an extensive, ten-month investigation, including interviews with nearly 500 individuals across the country, the Ombudsman’s office concluded that the Canadian Forces had made considerable progress in implementing the office’s previous recommendations and addressing shortcomings in its identification, prevention and treatment of operational mental health injuries.

In November 2012, the office released a follow-up report on the medical care of Canadian Forces Reservists who became ill or injured while serving in Canada. Reserved Care: A Follow Up into the Treatment of Injured Reservists, reviewed the progress of 12 recommendations made by the Ombudsman in 2008 to help ensure proper access to medical care and administrative support for Reservists. This follow-up investigation assessed the status of the original report’s 12 recommendations and determined that only four of the 12 recommendations had been fully implemented in the past four years; a further six recommendations had been partially implemented and two had not been addressed at all. On a positive note, the CAF had made a significant improvement with the implementation of recommended measures to ensure that all Reservist members of the CAF have electronic medical files accessible anywhere within the Canadian Forces medical system.

The Ombudsman introduced service standards in 2012-13 which are applied to each step of the complaint intake, early resolution, and complaint investigation processes. A strategic dashboard was also introduced to provide monthly performance measurement against the established service standards and to capture developing trends or systemic issues.

In support of investigations, reviews and the general raising of awareness of the role of the office, representatives from the Ombudsman’s office visited the following locations during FY 2012-13: CFBs Cold Lake, Valcartier, St-Jean, Borden, Petawawa, Winnipeg, Kingston, Halifax – plus units in Toronto and Montreal.

In September 2012, more than 25 countries participated in the Fourth International Conference of Ombudsman Institutions for the Armed Forces (ICOAF). The event was co-hosted in Ottawa by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces. This was the first time the conference was held outside of Europe. Several new countries were welcomed at the conference – which boasted the largest attendance to date – including representatives from Burkina Faso, Burundi, Czech Republic, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Tajikistan and Tunisia. The presence of so many countries underscored the increasing effectiveness and strength of ICOAF and the importance of Canada’s ongoing leadership.

The office launched the following systemic investigations over the past FY:

• A systemic review of modern military families, which will examine the challenges that are either unique to military families or more prevalent for them;
• An examination of excessive delays in the settling of moving claims and grievances at National Defence Headquarters;
• A case study examining cost of living and quality of life issues at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta;
• An examination of the care and treatment of Canadian Forces Reservists suffering from operational stress injuries; and
• A review of issues related to the provision of information to family members following the death or serious injury of a loved one while on duty. Specifically, the investigation will focus on the Board of Inquiry process.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces and Assistant Deputy Minister (Finance and Corporate Services) Group.

Due to rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces