National Defence committee  I'll give you an example. It's one of my cases. I'll give you a brief summary. The member does not fit within a particular policy. He was a reservist who was denied some services. The policy did not apply to him given that his service—I'm going to call it a contract although it's

National Defence committee  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 m

National Defence committee  It can be that the member does not meet the regulations.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is an improvement on where we were years ago. However, in my view it's a limited advancement. It's somewhat limited. I can tell you that since June, because I listened to what the Judge Advocate Gene

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. There's a number of sub-questions in that question. I'll try to be brief. The question of bias is one that has been raised and discussed in the House of Commons. I look at myself as a board member over the last four years. The issue of bi

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question. It's an excellent one. It comes back to our education or training process, if you will, when a new member is appointed to the board. Generally speaking, files are assigned to a single member. But, when a member is new to the panel, whether that pers

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chisu. No, it's the opposite, actually. Maybe I misspoke, but military experience in my view is an asset. What I said in my comment is that I also believe in variety and diversity. I don't think I said.... A quota to me would be an error. As the c

National Defence committee  Subpoena power is another issue that's still ongoing. It's an ongoing discussion. There's an obligation in the statute for the Canadian Forces and the department to basically give our board everything we require. We don't have an issue with that. We don't have a problem. What we

National Defence committee  In 2011 when I appeared, one of the arguments put forth by one of the members was that this could be perceived as a mechanism for one to forever extend a membership within an organization. I disagree with that profoundly in that, first of all, every board member doesn't know...an

National Defence committee  There are some tribunals where such provisions do not exist. However, I will just restate that the well-being of a Canadian Forces member, it is unfair to impose that. Actually, even for the board to impose.... I had my hands tied basically for three months where I could not as

National Defence committee  Yes, I will confirm that these three outstanding recommendations by Justice Lamer have been ongoing for quite a long time. Since I've been the chair, I've been pushing for those to go through. They're still under review, but have been accepted by successive governments. They were

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. Mr. Chair, there are many tribunals currently that have that provision in their governing statute. I don't know the recommendation number by heart but the LeSage report also recommended the same thing for the MPCC in his report. To us, it's mainly a

National Defence committee  For myself, I'm unfortunately unable to contribute to this part of the conversation because disciplinary matters are excluded from my mandate. I don't look at disciplinary matters at all.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, honourable members, good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here with you today to answer your questions concerning the role of the Canadian Forces Grievance Board in the military grievance process, given that there are provisions in Bill C-15

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, my mandate really stops when I issue my F and Rs. After that I have limited visibility, except when the chief complies with his obligation to inform the board with a copy of his decision. What happens in between is not in my mandate, and I have no visibility as to what