Defense Ombudsman Urges Independence for His Office from National Defense

The ombudsman for the Canadian Armed Forces has called on MPs to make his office independent of the Department of National Defence (DND), arguing it “makes no sense” for him to report directly to the defence minister while overseeing the department.

“My organization is subject to oversight and investigation by the same department that it is mandated to oversee. The conflict here is obvious,” Ombudsman Gregory Lick told MPs on the House of Commons defence committee on Feb. 26.

Mr. Lick said that in the past, his lack of independence from the DND had resulted in investigations that “completely lacked credibility.” He spoke of one incident in 2019 where a Federal Court ruled that an individual in the forces, “was denied procedural fairness in the investigation and in the decision-making process.”

Mr. Lick said Minister of Defence Bill Blair is not required to follow recommendations set out in the ombudsman’s reports, and the responses to the reports are, “increasingly months late and contain no tangible implementation details, despite the fact that we know the department has developed them.”

As an example, the ombudsman said he had yet to receive a response to a report submitted five months ago around the mental health concerns of military reservists deployed to natural disasters.

Mr. Lick said there already exists legislative oversight for federally incarcerated inmates, some of whom have committed serious crimes. “Why do those who proudly wear a military uniform, on whom we depend for national security, not have the same? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

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Under questioning by NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen, Mr. Lick said financial controls related to the administration of his office had not been loosened, contrary to what Deputy Minister of National Defence Bill Matthews previously told the committee. The ombudsman said many “inappropriate” controls over his department prevent him from hiring the most qualified people and doing his job in an independent manner.

Mr. Lick said he would like his office to report directly to Parliament because “real independence and perception of independence is absolutely vital.”

He said his staff also needs protection from being compelled to testify in court or in front of administrative process, which is “vital not only to the independence of the office, but also that critical principle of confidentiality for our constituents.”

Mr. Lick also mentioned that with his retirement coming in July, the federal government had yet to circulate a job posting.

“The selection process that I went through was very transparent. Anybody could apply. I think the same thing should occur going forward, and should not be selecting from a list that was never created before,” he said.

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