Tight grip draws ire of defence watchdog
OTTAWA • Canada’s military ombudsman has dropped the gloves in what appears to have become a tense battle with National Defence, accusing officials of “insidious” attacks whenever his office releases a report critical of the department.
Gary Walbourne said those attacks have affected his ability to hold the Defence Department to account, which is having a negative impact on the military personnel he is working to help.
The ombudsman said the best way to solve the problem is to make his office fully independent from the department.
“I think this office should report to Parliament,” Walbourne told The Canadian Press. “That way there is a certain standard and process that has to be respected.”
The Trudeau government has so far rejected Walbourne’s request, with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan encouraging the two sides to work together to resolve their differences.
Sajjan noted in a letter to Walbourne that the current relationship, in which defence officials oversee the ombudsman’s finances and human resources, was the result of a scathing auditor general’s report.
The ombudsman’s office has a budget of about $6 million per year and, according to officials. It is currently working on 1,900 cases.
Walbourne, who took over as ombudsman in April, 2014, said the department’s tight grip on his office’s finances is now being used against him.
He alleged that a pattern has developed where defence officials make life more difficult for his office any time it releases a report they don’t like.
“You can almost trend my administrative burdens and the way this office is received with my systemic reviews when I release them and there’s a challenge to the department to change something,” he said. “Things get delayed. It’s insidious.”