Ombudsman Message—Ensuring civilian employees are treated fairly

Ombudsman Message | 23 May 2024

One of the Ombudsman's core functions is to ensure that the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) treat our constituents fairly and equitably.

Often, we conduct process reviews of individual constituent complaints to determine whether there has been fair treatment. As an office of last redress, we try to address the instances where the DND or the CAF have improperly or unfairly administered complaint processes.

Over the course of my tenure, my office has dealt with several complex civilian complaint files, which often involved several complaint mechanisms. In my final year as National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces Ombudsman, I was compelled to launch a formal review of decision-making policy and practice at the DND. This was prompted by a series of serious procedural defects and breaches of procedural fairness that we had seen that undermined the legitimacy and credibility of several DND processes. The results of this investigation are contained in our report, “Fair decision-making for fair outcomes: Complaint mechanisms for DND employees.”

In at least one case, I believe the use of a non-disclosure agreement for a settlement obscured the department’s misuse of the process and avoided accountability altogether. This failure to hold anyone accountable for their actions is eroding faith within the civilian apparatus, leading to reduced morale in the workforce.

It is important to note that the DND has either implemented or has begun the process of implementing many of the report’s recommendations. Nonetheless, we have still identified outstanding gaps.

Our findings related to these outstanding gaps in departmental policy and procedure lay down clear markers for the department to act on. Our recommendations for each mechanism will assist in guiding further improvements to the processes.

Even a perfectly designed process is only the starting point—the true test of a process is how it is implemented and how it safeguards against misuse.

I look forward to the department taking concrete action to address our recommendations.

Gregory A. Lick

Ombudsman