Response from Associate DM: Follow-up to Justice Fish’s Recommendation
November 2024
Robin Hynes
Interim Ombud
Office of the Ombudsman
100 Metcalfe Street 12th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario KIP 5M1
Dear Ms. Hynes
I would like to thank your office for your continued support of implementing recommendations related to the improvement of culture and morale in the Department of Defence. I am taking this opportunity to follow up on the previous Ombudsman's 4 June 2024 letter regarding former Justice Fish's 103 rd recommendation, which concerns military justice, military policing and police oversight, military grievances, and external review of grievances. The recommendation reads:
There should be an independent review of oversight and redress mechanisms for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The review should examine the operation of the Office of the Ombudsman for DND and the CAF, and whether measures are needed to reinforce its independence and effectiveness. The review should examine the experience of other democracies and best practices elsewhere in government. It should consider the roles and responsibilities of a general oversight organization in relation to subject-specific oversight organizations within the Defence portfolio.
Assistant Deputy Minister (Review Services) (ADM (RS)) was assigned responsibility of ensuring this recommendation is completed. To date, the following reviews have taken place by ADM(RS):
- Review of the Sexual Misconduct Support & Resource Centre risks and controls;
- Advisory of the CAF Grievance System to assess if the governance and controls support fair, objective, and timely grievance decisions, and the continuous improvement of culture, policy, and process;
- Evaluation of the Canadian Forces Military Police Academy; and
- Evaluation of Military Justice Training (in progress).
In addition, your office has completed the following reports:
- Defending Wellness: A systematic investigation of the Canadian Armed Forces health care complaint process;
- Fair decision-making for fair outcomes: Complaint mechanisms for DND employees;
- Getting Redress Right: An investigation into the inequities Canadian Armed Forces members face when they have limited or no grievance rights; and
- A report on ADM(RS) 'processes related to Fair Decision-Making for Fair Outcomes (not yet published).
We appreciated the former Ombudsman's input regarding this recommendation and acknowledge the importance that a review be by a third party. In the interest of delivering on the recommendation by the end of 2025, the Department will be contracting the services of a third party to conduct an external review to assess the independence and effectiveness of the Office of the Ombudsman, including to benchmark the experience of other democracies and best practices elsewhere in government. ADM(RS) will provide liaison services between your office and the third party but will not participate in the conduct of the review.
ADM(RS) team members will be in touch soon to coordinate next steps as your involvement will be crucial to the success of the review.
Sincerely,
Natasha Kim