Ottawa, November 27, 2006 – Department of National Defence and
Canadian Forces Ombudsman, Yves Côté, welcomed the recent compensation for Mrs.
Christina Wheeler and her family for the tragic death of her husband, Master Corporal
Rick Wheeler, and for the unacceptable way in which the Department of National Defence
and the Canadian Forces handled this unfortunate matter over many years.
“We are very pleased to see that the Canadian Forces are now treating Mrs. Wheeler
and her family with the respect and compassion they so rightly deserve,” stated
Mr. Côté. The military Ombudsman added, “I would like to commend the Minister of
National Defence, the Honourable Gordon O’Connor, for his leadership in addressing
this painful and longstanding injustice.”
This formal resolution for Mrs. Wheeler and her family follows an Ombudsman special
investigation into the tragic death of Master Corporal Rick Wheeler in a training
exercise in 1992, and the substandard military investigations that were conducted
over more than a decade. One of the 34 recommendations in the Ombudsman’s 2005 special
report, When a Soldier Falls: Reviewing the Response to Master Corporal Rick Wheeler's
Accidental Death, called on the Chief of the Defence Staff to “take action to acknowledge
the unfair treatment that the immediate family of Master Corporal Wheeler received
during the investigation of [his] death, and to ensure that appropriate measures
are taken to ensure redress so that adequate closure can be obtained by the family.”
“I am very proud of the role that our investigators and our office played in
completing this significant investigation and in ensuring that our recommendation
for recognition and compensation for Mrs. Wheeler and her family was acted upon,”
stated Mr. Côté. He added, “This was the right and just thing to do.”
The Office of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces Ombudsman
is currently conducting a follow-up review of the level of implementation of other
recommendations in the 2005 special report, When a Soldier Falls.
A recent Ombudsman letter to the Chief of Military Personnel regarding this case
can be found at the following address:
www.ombudsman.forces.gc.ca.
The Ombudsman’s special report, When a Soldier Falls: Reviewing the Response
to Master Corporal Rick Wheeler's Accidental Death, is also available online at
the following address:
www.ombudsman.forces.gc.ca.
For additional information, please contact:
Darren Gibb
Director of Communications
Office of the Ombudsman
Tel.: 613-992-6962
Edith Dauphinais
Communications Advisor
Office of the Ombudsman
Tel: 613-996-8076
