Good morning, everyone.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to this important meeting today.
My name is Vihar Joshi. I'm the interim chair of the Military Grievances External Review Committee.
For brevity's sake, I'll refer to the Military Grievances External Review Committee as the MGERC throughout my presentation.
The MGERC is an external component that's an integral part of the Canadian Armed Forces grievance system. It was created in June 2000 under the National Defence Act. The MGERC is an independent quasi-judicial body with one mandate: to review grievances referred to it by the Chief of the Defence Staff and to provide findings and recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff and the CAF members who filed the grievances.
The MGERC's findings and recommendations are not binding upon the Chief of the Defence Staff. However, if the CAF decides not to adhere to one of the findings or recommendations, they must explain their reasons in the final decision.
Although the MGERC does not have decision-making power, its role is nonetheless pivotal in maintaining transparency and confidence in the Canadian Armed Forces grievance system.
At arm's length from the Canadian Forces, the MGERC has developed considerable expertise over the past 23 years and is well positioned to undertake in-depth investigations into grievance matters and provide impartial and independent assessments to both the chief of the defence staff and grievers on how a grievance should be resolved. The MGERC provides it's annual report to Parliament through the Minister of National Defence. It publishes it's annual reports, case summaries and systemic recommendations online, thereby further strengthening transparency.
Although the regulations only require that certain types of grievances be referred to the MGERC for review, all grievers should benefit from an external independent review before a final decision is made on the grievance. Not only has this notion been highlighted by independent review authorities, including Mr. Justice Fish in his recent third independent review, but until recently, it has also been a Canadian Armed Forces best practice for the past 13 years. To ensure that all grievers benefit from this review, this practice should be entrenched in legislation.
Justice Fish also made a number of other recommendations to enhance the transparency and efficiency of the Canadian Armed Forces grievance system. The MGERC looks forward to working with the Canadian Armed Forces to improve the grievance system for all soldiers, sailors and aviators.
With regard to access to information requests and parliamentary questions, I can confirm that in the last five years, the MGERC has responded on average to 116 parliamentary questions, three formal access to information requests and 19 informal access to information requests. In the interests of efficiency and to reduce the administrative burden on those making requests, it is the MGERC's standard best practice to respond quickly and without the need to initiate a formal access to information request process.
The MGERC's specific role in the Canadian Armed Forces grievance system is valuable and important. In essence, it increases transparency and confidence in the system by ensuring that grievers have full disclosure of all relevant information and that their grievances have an in-depth, independent and impartial review before the chief of the defence staff renders final decisions. We have heard time and again, from both grievers and the chief of the defence staff, that the quality and thoroughness of our reviews adds value to the process.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you, and I look forward to your questions.
Thank you.