2016–2017 Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Military Grievances External Review Committee (Committee) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.

This information is updated annually and does not contain information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.

Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conferences incurred by federal departments and agencies are for the most part directly related to supporting departmental mandate(s) and the government's priorities.

The raison d’être of the Committee is to provide an independent and external review of military grievances. Section 29 of the National Defence Act provides a statutory right for an officer or a non-commissioned member who has been aggrieved, to grieve a decision, an act or an omission in the administration of the affairs of the Canadian Armed Forces. The importance of this broad right cannot be overstated since it is, with certain narrow exceptions, the only formal complaint process available to the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Committee is an independent administrative tribunal reporting to Parliament through the Minister of National Defence.

The Committee reviews grievances referred to it pursuant to s. 29 of the National Defence Act and provides findings and recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Canadian Armed Forces member who submitted the grievance.

The Committee also has the obligation to deal with all matters before it as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and the considerations of fairness permit.

The Committee operates under two programs: Independent Review of Military Grievances, and Internal Services.

Total annual expenditures for travel, hospitality and conferences of the Committee are summarized below:

Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year

Travel:

Public Servants: Compared to 2015-2016, travel expenditures by the Committee’s public servants decreased by $1.4K mainly due to:

• Fewer employees attended training and conferences across Canada; and
• Reduction in the use of local transportation in the National Capital Region.

Non-Public Servants: Compared to 2015-2016, travel expenditures by the Committee’s non-public servants decreased by $2.5K mainly due to:

• Vacancies in the Committee’s membership^{Footnote 3}, which resulted in less travel by non-public servants to fulfill operational requirements.