Evidence of meeting #43 for National Defence in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ensure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Very good. Thank you.
You also mentioned the efforts needed to bridge the gap between the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada. The transfer is problematic.
Do you already have a solution you could propose to us today?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
Thank you for the question.
I can't say that today. No, I don't have a solution. I've been with the Department of National Defence now for 17 days. I would say that 10 of those days have been spent on that issue.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
You mention it in your notes, so it's an important issue for you.
Do you not already have a potential solution in mind? If not, I imagine you intend to seek out solutions in an effort to fix the problem. Is that correct?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I'm certainly going to try to find solutions. It's a complex issue. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to say after only 17 days that I have the solution that the two departments have been working on for quite some time.
I've spoken to Deputy Minister Natynczyk about the work we're going to do together. I've met with the minister's chief of staff and had briefings on a number of the issues. I'm working very closely with the acting vice-chief of the defence staff and chief military personnel on the range of issues that need to be looked at because there is no single thing. I think there are a number of issues that have to be looked at and knitted together to ensure that the transition, as the chief of the defence staff would say, from recruitment to grave, essentially, is full-service, complete, and seamless.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Very good.
You've had quite a career, holding a variety of positions. You used to be a member of the Canadian Forces. You were also the commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard.
How do you, as senior associate deputy minister of national defence, see the role of the ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces and that of the veterans ombudsman? What do you think their roles are? Do they serve an important role?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
Thank you for the question.
I think the role of the ombudsman is critical. There has to be a route for employees and CAF members to bring forward problems and concerns that they have.
I've read now, in the time I've been there, several of his reports. I think they're very useful. It's a data point for the minister to make decisions. They are data points for the chief of the defence staff and the deputy minister to form programs, and he provides an invaluable service. I think, yes, the two ombudsmen are really essential to decision-making.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Do you think they should really be able to operate independently from the department, to make it easier for them to do their job?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I know that [Technical difficulty--Editor] today in particular. I don't think that there are any impediments to the ombudsman's independence at all. The FAA, the Financial Administration Act, affects everybody who works in government. There are controls on everybody's budget to ensure that it's spent appropriately, but he has never had travel turned down. He has never had interference in a study of his, because there is a reporting relationship for the budget, and he has delegated authorities. He is able to spend his money, his budget, as he sees fit within the FAA. I don't think there's an impediment to his independence at all.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Thank you.
Congratulations on your appointment. It's nice seeing you in your new role.
What rank were you in the navy?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I was very junior. I was a lieutenant.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I'm not a reservist. I still hold a commission, but between a full-time job, a husband at sea, and two babies, something had to go.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Okay. I was concerned that, if you did get called up, that would be a conflict of interest now with your position as a senior manager within national defence.
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I think, if I were still serving, it's something that I would have to step away from in this current job.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
You said that one of the main jobs that you have right now is rolling out the new defence policy. When are you expecting that to be finalized and presented to Canadians?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I don't know the date, so I can't comment on that. My job, as the senior associate, is the implementation of major initiatives. This would be one of them. We're starting to look at how we would do that, but I don't have a date.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Other than defence policy, what are the other major initiatives that you have in your file right now and sitting on the desk that you're now working on?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
I'll be working on the procurement file, specifically the national shipbuilding strategy; the defence renewal process to find savings within the department and reallocate from lower to higher priorities; the Veterans Affairs file; and I also will be responsible for the science, technology, and innovation file within Defence.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
On the Veterans Affairs file, we were talking just now about the ombudsman and Mr. Walbourne's interest in having more independence through direct legislation. He also offered some great ideas on how to help with the transition of medically released members over to Veterans Affairs.
Have you had a chance to review his reports and see about having those recommendations implemented? They seemed to me very straightforward in recommending that the surgeon general make a determination on injury attributed to service and then getting the proper pensions and benefits in place.
4:30 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
Thank you. I absolutely have read the report and I find it very interesting.
I'm meeting with VAC officials starting next week. Deputy minister Natynczyk set that up for me. We have to do a line by line of what has been recommended there, what's in the chief of military personnel's plan for that transition, and the total recruitment to the end of service plan that has been laid out within the forces to see what aligns.
I haven't seen every piece of information put into one matrix yet. That's what we need to do to see where there are overlaps, where we're recommending the exact same things but using different language, just to ensure that all the bases are covered. That work is to come, but it's just starting now for me. I haven't had all the inputs from everybody within the forces yet on that particular file.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
I just request that you keep it people-centric.
4:30 p.m.
Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Department of National Defence
Yes, absolutely.
