Response from MND: Language and Cultural Advisors report
21 January 2025
Ms. Robyn Hynes
Interim Ombud
Office of the Ombudsman
100 Metcalfe Street, 12th Floor
Ottawa ON K1P 5M1
Dear Ms. Hynes:
Thank you for your letter of December 6, 2024, with which you enclosed the report titled Standing together: Ensuring fair treatment for Canadian Language and Cultural Advisors who served in Afghanistan.
I appreciate and commend your continued advocacy for the Language and Cultural Advisors (LCAs) that were employed in Afghanistan alongside the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). l appreciate the considerable contribution made by these former employees to CAF operations and regret the injuries that several LCAs have experienced as a result of their deployments.
The situation involving the deployment of LCAs was a first occurrence for the Department of National Defence (DND), which brought light to the required corrections and specifications missing in the departmental deployment policy for Public Service employees. In many instances, LCAs experienced a delayed or progressive appearance of symptoms over several months or years, further compounding the issue.
The Department has since put measures that impose greater limits on both frequency and duration of civilian employment on overseas operations. The policy also provides guidance and key responsibilities surrounding pre-deployment health assessment and post-deployment follow-up care and support of employees, including briefings about operational stress injuries. These measures, stemming from the LCAs' experiences, have served to better support DND employees deployed in support of CAF operations all around the world.
I am confident that the existing regime under the Government Employees Compensation Act (GECA) aligns with the spirit of your recommendations that will continue to inform us on this important issue. Through the GECA, the Government of Canada provides workers' compensation benefits to federal employees who are injured or become ill as a result of their work, including DND's LCAs. The Department remains committed to supporting the LCAs in accessing their entitlements under the GECA DND's Office of Disability Management is monitoring the progress of files and continues to support the LCAs through this process. Recent favourable decisions on these files have been most welcome.
I thank you for your diligent work on this matter.
The Honourable Bill Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.
Minister of National Defence