Use of National Defence assets - Administrative flight service by Ministers of the Crown
Summary
Policies and processes that govern the use of Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces assets, specifically the Administrative Flight Service by the Minister of the Crown.
Background
The Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operate the Administrative Flight Service (AFS) for members of the Royal Family, the Governor General, the Prime Minister (PM), former PMs travelling for purposes related to their former office, Cabinet Ministers, foreign dignitaries visiting Canada, Parliamentary committees or delegations on official business and, when authorized by a Minister, Senior Federal Officers on government business. The Minister of National Defence (MND) is the sole approving authority of the AFS.
The use of DND and CAF assets for the purpose of AFS is scrutinized by media and stakeholder groups which can lead to reputational risk for the Government of Canada. To best advise the MND on the use of these assets, policies and procedures are in place which help mitigate public scrutiny and maintain transparency on the use of taxpayer dollars.
Considerations
Two policies outline the requirements for use of DND and CAF assets by ministers:
Treasury Board Policies for Minister's Offices Appendix B (National Defence Guidelines for the Use of Government Administrative Aircraft); and
412 Squadron Guide to AFS, August 2022.
The AFS is to be used for government business only and considered under four circumstances:
There is no commercial service to the destination or commercial options are not viable due to time or cost;
Multiple officials are travelling together, thus there are savings to taxpayers;
There are security concerns; and,
The aircraft is being used to fly foreign dignitaries, if appropriate, and in the best interest of the Canadian government.
Further, there are no costs levied for the use of the Challenger aircraft of the AFS in these circumstances.
Ministers requesting a flight must forward a formal written request to the MND. In practice, when a request is made by a Minister's Office, the Minister's Office in question reaches out to the Office of the MND to explore the possibility of getting support for the use of an AFS. Under the direction of the Chief of Staff of the MND, someone in authority in the MND's Office reaches out to the Departmental Assistant's and Military Assistant's Offices to check the availability of an AFS.
Rationale for the use of an AFS must be provided to DND by the requesting Minister's Office. The request would also include, but is not limited to, the number of passengers and credentials, locations of departure and destination, dates and timing, rationale for the trip, and any other relevant information. Once DND confirms that the request meets all the requirements under the AFS policies, DND officials will confirm the availability of the aircraft with 412 Squadron and send the official request to the Chief of Staff to the MND for approval.
Requests are handled on a first-come, first-served basis. If there are conflicting priorities, requests are referred to the MND for resolution. If multiple ministers make concurrent requests, the order of precedence in Cabinet is to be used to resolve conflicts.
AFS policies mandate that the information pertaining to the use of AFS is to be made available to the public, including the following information:
Name of the Minister requesting the aircraft;
Date(s) of the trip and location(s) visited;
Number of hours flown;
Purpose of the trip (from a CAF perspective – e.g., support to Minister of the Crown);
Costs associated with the trip (e.g., fuel, catering costs, etc.); and
Names of passengers that are releasable by DND, which will be limited to CAF members or DND public servants. Aircrew members working the flight are not considered passengers.
Of note, it is incumbent upon the requesting Minister's Office / Department to disclose details regarding other passengers and the purpose of the trip.
The process to request AFS for the PM deviates slightly from the above. Specifically, the Privy Council Office makes the request directly to 412 Squadron. 412 Squadron provides updates to DND and CAF officials, and the Office of the MND, as required, to maintain awareness, without compromising the PM's security and safety concerns.
For AFS requests related to personal travel or requests for family members, the process remains the same as any other request for an AFS, albeit there is a mechanism for cost recovery to ensure transparency to taxpayers. When 412 Squadron is informed of personal travel or of family joining travel, a cost estimate is prepared by comparing commercial costs of flights. Once the estimate is received, the Squadron sends the cost to the appropriate Department. An invoice is generated, and the individual would pay the Crown for these costs. Should travellers not be Public Office Holders or Public Servants, information disclosed may be limited by privacy rules.
Conclusion
The Corporate Secretary, supported by the Departmental Assistant's Office, will inform the Chief of Staff to the MND of the responsibilities and process to request an AFS as well as the consequences of doing so, to mitigate reputational risks to the Government of Canada, the MND, the DND and the CAF.
