Office of the Ombudsman - DPR - 2013-14

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

The Office of the Ombudsman acts as a direct source of information, referral and education for members of the Defence community. It helps individuals navigate a complex system and 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 of National Defence (DND)/Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and, when necessary, makes recommendations and reports publicly on these issues. The Office’s ultimate goal is to contribute to substantial and long-lasting improvements to the Defence community.

Throughout Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-14, the Office continued to focus on becoming a more innovative, nimble and constituent-focused service provider. In particular, the Office effectively dealt with a 10 percent increase in contacts while reducing the size of active files by 25 percent. The Office received 1,507 new cases in FY 2013-14, with benefits, release and medical issues accounting for over half of the reasons why constituents contacted the organization.

As part of its ongoing outreach initiative aimed at enhancing the overall awareness of the organization’s role and mandate, Office staff visited military installations in Yellowknife NT, Wainwright AB and Borden ON. In order to foster and maintain constructive working relationships, the Ombudsman and other Office staff attended a number of meetings with key Defence officials. Also the Ombudsman was invited to appear before parliamentary committees to discuss services and benefits provided to current and former members of the CAF and to contribute to the examination of Bill C-15.

In order to improve its front line capacity and to streamline resources to directly support core functions, the Operations division refined its portfolio approach, stabilized service standards, and implemented a customer feedback questionnaire. The division created a tracking mechanism for systemic issues and refined the systemic investigations processes through improvements to training, decision making and reporting. It also initiated the digitization of Operations files.

The Office released three special reports in FY 2013-14. In May 2013 the Office published A Report Outlining the Delays in the Processing of Adjudications and Initial Authority Grievances by the Director General Compensation & Benefits, which investigated delays in the adjudication of financial claims associated with door-to-door relocations (postings) and delays in the handling of related grievances. Ombudsman staff found that CAF members were waiting months – and in some cases, years – for decisions with respect to their adjudication requests, and longer still if they chose to grieve the decision.

After a May 2012 outreach visit to Cold Lake in which the Ombudsman and his staff received a number of complaints related to the overall quality of life for CAF members and their families posted to the area, the Office launched a comprehensive investigation which culminated in the July 2013 report An Examination of Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake (4 Wing). The investigation found that the cost of living in Cold Lake has increased significantly in recent years – driven largely by growth in the region’s oil and gas industry – and rising costs have had a ripple effect on the Cold Lake Defence community.

In November 2013 the Office released the findings of its evaluation of the well-being of Canada’s military families in On the Homefront: Assessing the Well-being of Canada’s Military Families in the New Millennium. Following an extensive investigation, the Office found that three characteristics, mobility, separation and risk, when taken together, have a direct and unique impact on the life of military families. They are also the major causes of disruption and strain for military families, triggering many of the challenges they face in areas such as health, housing, spousal employment and child well-being.

The Office also launched three systemic investigations in FY 2013-14 on the Board of Inquiry process, operational stress injuries in the Reserve Force and issues surrounding Reserve Force compensation that will conclude next fiscal year. A planned investigation on civilian classification grievances was postponed with the intention to give the department time to implement proposed solutions addressing the backlog.

Financial Resources
($000's) by FY Actual
Spending
2011-12
Actual
Spending
2012-13
Planned
Spending
2013-14
Actual
Spending
2013-14
Vote 1 - Salary and Personnel 3,666 4,795 4,999 4,710
Vote 1 - Operating and Maintenance 671 1,108 1,085 569
Sub-total Vote 1 4,337 5,902 $6,084 $5,279
Vote 5 - Capital -
Grand total $4,337 $5,902 $6,084 $5,279

Sources: The Office of the Ombudsman and Assistant Deputy Minister (Finance and Corporate Services) Group
*Forecast spending as of T2.
Due to rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown

Human Resources
Actual
2011-12
Actual
2012-13
Planned
2013-14
Actual
2013-14
Civilian FTEs 54 58.5 56 56

Sources: The Office of the Ombudsman and Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources-Civilian) Group

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