There are two sets to this. That was last year's annual report, and at the time that order providing the CDS the ex gratia payment was not out yet. That remedy was not available at the time, so that recommendation has to be put in that context.
Also, when the CDS finds that a member meets the conditions of the regulation, he does not write a cheque, but in fact entitles a member to a benefit. It has to be very clear that if the chain of command finds that a member does not meet the condition and it denies a benefit, but the CDS by being the decision-maker and making a finding of fact finds that the griever meets conditions a, b and c, then entitlement to the benefit will open up. In fact, he has entitled the member to the benefit. That's something that needs to be separated out.
In those cases where something goes wrong and the member does not meet the policy and you cannot use ex gratia but fundamentally the right thing to do would be to compensate the member, this is what I believe the CDS is currently lacking, which falls short of the Lamer recommendation. So he does have that part of ex gratia when nothing else applies, but when something does apply and the member does not meet the conditions but something must be done financially, the Chief of the Defence Staff is still limited to referring the case to the director of complaints and civil litigations for him or her to review and assess the claim. The CDS cannot—
