Bill C-283

1st Session, 41st Parliament,

60 Elizabeth II, 2011

house of commons of canada

BILL C-283

An Act to establish the office of the Veterans' Ombudsman

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Independent and Effective Office of the Veterans’ Ombudsman Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

“Board” means the Veterans Review and Appeal Board established by section 4 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act.

“Canadian Forces” means the armed forces referred to in section 14 of the National Defence Act, and includes any predecessors of the naval, army or air forces of Canada or Newfoundland.

“client” means any client of the Department, including

(a) veterans with war service, veterans and serving members of the Canadian Forces (regular and reserve) and members and former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and

(b) spouses, common-law partners, other family members, survivors, primary caregivers and any dependants of the persons referred to in paragraph (a).

“Department” means the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Minister” means the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

“Ombudsman” means the Veterans’ Ombudsman.

“representative” means a person authorized in writing by a client or authorized pursuant to the laws of Canada or a province to manage the client’s affairs, but does not include an employee of the federal public administration acting within the scope of their employment or, in particular, an advocate or employee of the Bureau of Pensions Advocates referred to in subsection 6.1(1) of the Department of Veterans Affairs Act.

“request” means a request to investigate any matter relating to the mandate of the Ombudsman and includes a complaint about any such matters.

CONSTRUCTION

3. The provisions of this Act and of any other Act of Parliament or of any regulations made under this or any other Act of Parliament conferring or imposing jurisdiction, powers, duties or functions on the office of the Ombudsman must be liberally construed and interpreted to the end that the recognized obligation of the people and Government of Canada to those who have served this country so well may be fulfilled.

VETERANS’ OMBUDSMAN

4. (1) The office of the Veterans' Ombudsman referred to in Order in Council P.C. 2007-530 dated April 3, 2007 is continued.

(2) The mandate of the Ombudsman is to

(a) investigate and address requests from clients and their representatives arising from the application of any legislative provisions relating to them;

(b) investigate the exercise of powers, duties and functions of the Minister set out in the Department of Veterans Affairs Act;

(c) investigate emerging and systemic issues that are related to programs and services provided or administered by the Department or by third parties on the Department’s behalf and that have a negative impact on clients;

(d) investigate and address complaints from clients and their representatives related to programs and services provided or administered by the Department or by third parties on the Department’s behalf, including individual decisions related to the programs and services for which there is no right of appeal to the Board;

(e) identify and investigate systemic issues related to the Board; and

(f) facilitate access by clients to programs and services provided or administered by the Department or by third parties on the Department’s behalf by providing them with information and referrals.

5. (1) The Governor in Council must appoint a Veterans’ Ombudsman.

(2) The Governor in Council must, in making an appointment under subsection (1), give priority to candidates who are veterans of the Canadian Forces or who have experience and knowledge of veterans’ issues.

(3) The Ombudsman must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.

(4) The Ombudsman must receive such remuneration, benefits and reimbursement of expenses as is ordered by the Governor in Council.

6. (1) The Ombudsman holds office during good behaviour for a term of five years that may be renewed for a further term of three years.

(2) The Ombudsman must have the rank and all the powers of a deputy head of a department.

(3) The Ombudsman may be removed for cause at any time by the Governor in Council.

(4) The Ombudsman must engage exclusively in the duties and functions of his or her office under this Act or any other Act of Parliament and shall not hold any other office under Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada or a province for reward or engage in any other employment for reward.

(5) In the event of the absence, incapacity or death of the Ombudsman, the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, appoint another person to act as Ombudsman until the Ombudsman returns or another Ombudsman is appointed, as the case may be.

7. (1) The Ombudsman must be assisted in the performance of his or her duties under this Act or under any other Act of Parliament by officers and employees appointed pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act.

(2) Subject to any other Act of Parliament, the Ombudsman may delegate to any person referred to in subsection (1) any power, duty or function conferred on the Ombudsman under this Act or any other enactment.

(3) The Ombudsman may engage on a temporary basis the services of persons having technical or specialized knowledge of any matter relating to the work of the Ombudsman, in order to advise and assist the Ombudsman in the performance of his or her functions and duties under this Act.

8. (1) The Ombudsman must, before each fiscal year, prepare a budget sufficient to permit him or her to carry out his or her mandate.

(2) The Ombudsman must submit the budget to the Treasury Board for its consideration and approval.

(3) After the Treasury Board has approved a budget under subsection (2), the Ombudsman must prepare an estimate of the sums that will be required to pay the charges and expenses of his or her office during the fiscal year.

(4) Before the fiscal year, the Ombudsman must submit the estimate to the President of the Treasury Board, who shall lay it before the House of Commons with the estimates of the Government for the fiscal year.

POWERS

9. The Ombudsman has all the powers of a commissioner under Part II of the Inquiries Act in conducting an investigation.

10. The Ombudsman must attempt to resolve all matters within his or her mandate at the level at which they can most efficiently and effectively be resolved and may communicate with appropriate government officials for that purpose.

11. No criminal or civil proceedings lie against the Ombudsman, or against any person acting on behalf or under the direction of the Ombudsman, for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the course of the performance or purported performance of the Ombudsman’s powers, duties or functions under this or any other Act of Parliament.

INVESTIGATION

12. (1) The Ombudsman must commence an investigation in response to any request received from

(a) the Minister; or

(b) a client or his or her representative.

(2) If the Ombudsman is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to investigate a matter under this Act, the Ombudsman may on his or her own initiative commence an investigation in respect of that matter.

(3) The Ombudsman may

(a) determine how an investigation is to be conducted; and

(b) determine whether an investigation should be terminated before completion.

(4) In exercising his or her discretion under subsection (3), the Ombudsman shall consider such factors as

(a) the time elapsed since the matter leading to the request arose;

(b) the time elapsed since the requester became aware of the matter;

(c) the nature and seriousness of the matter;

(d) the question of whether the request was made in good faith; and

(e) the availability of alternate redress mech­anisms with respect to the request.

13. The Ombudsman may refuse to commence an investigation in response to a request if he or she is of the opinion that the subject matter of the request is

(a) beyond the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman; or

(b) frivolous or vexatious in nature.

14. The Ombudsman must not commence an investigation in response to any request that, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, relates to

(a) any decision of the Minister for which there is a right of review or appeal to the Board;

(b) any decision of the Board made in the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction under the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act;

(c) legal advice provided by the Bureau of Pensions Advocates in the preparation of applications for review or appeal or applications for reconsideration under the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act or in the representation of the Bureau’s clients at proceedings under that Act;

(d) any court decision or decision of a judge;

(e) matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, apart from those matters that have been expressly assigned to be administered by the Department;

(f) legal advice provided to the Government of Canada or to the Board; or

(g) confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

15. Notwithstanding section 14, the Ombudsman may investigate systemic or recurrent issues that relate to the operation of the Board and make recommendations in respect of those issues.

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

16. (1) For the purposes of dealing with requests made under this Act, the Ombudsman must establish mediation processes to address these requests.

(2) If a requester consents to mediation, the Government of Canada officials referred to in the request must not refuse to participate in mediation.

(3) A settlement that includes a remedy for the requester must be arrived at by mutual consent of the requester and the person with authority to implement this remedy.

(4) A settlement may provide for disciplinary action against any person.

17. (1) If mediation does not result in a satisfactory resolution of a request, the Ombudsman must conduct a formal investigation of the request.

(2) The Ombudsman’s report of the investigation may include the following recommendations:

(a) disciplinary action if appropriate;

(b) any necessary policy, regulatory or legislative change; or

(c) compensation for the affected party.

(3) The report referred to in subsection (2) must be made available to the public and must include

(a) the name of any person subject to a recommendation for disciplinary action; and

(b) the name of the requester, with his or her consent.

18. The Ombudsman must inform the requester of the results of an investigation or any action taken in response to the request.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

19. The Ombudsman must be allowed access to any document, record or personnel of any government department that has been contacted by the Ombudsman in the course of carrying out his or her mandate subject only to any limitations that exist under the following legislation, policy and privileges:

(a) the Privacy Act;

(b) the Policy on Government Security;

(c) the police informant identity privilege;

(d) the spousal privilege;

(e) the solicitor-client privilege; and

(f) the penitential communications.

20. The Ombudsman and persons acting on the Ombudsman’s behalf must not disclose any information that is acquired while carrying out the Ombudsman’s mandate without the permission of any person affected, unless the disclosure is in accordance with an Act of Parliament.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

21. (1) The Ombudsman may, as necessary, establish committees to assist the Ombudsman in dealing with general or specific situations or issues that arise in carrying out the Ombudsman’s mandate under this Act.

(2) The composition of the committee must be determined by the Ombudsman, taking into consideration the need for significant representation from veterans’ and stakeholders’ groups and from those veterans who do not belong to a veterans association or advocacy group.

REPORTS

22. (1) The Ombudsman must prepare an annual report on his or her activities that shall include a statement as to whether the Ombudsman received all the information that he or she requested during the calendar year in the course of carrying out his or her duties under this Act.

(2) The Ombudsman must submit the annual report to the Minister, who must table it in both Houses of Parliament within the first 60 sitting days of each House following the completion of the report.

(3) As soon as an annual report has been tabled under subsection (2), the Ombudsman must make it available to the public.

23. (1) The Ombudsman may at any time submit an additional report to the Minister, which may include recommendations, concerning any investigation or other matter that is within the Ombudsman’s mandate.

(2) The Minister must, within 60 days after receiving a report referred to in subsection (1), refer it for review by an appropriate committee of each House simultaneously or to an appropriate joint committee of both Houses.

(3) Any recommendations made by the Ombudsman under subsection (1) are not binding on the Minister.

(4) Where the Ombudsman has issued a report recommending that the Minister take a certain action, the Minister must, within 60 days after receiving the report, inform the Ombudsman as to what action is contemplated or being taken with respect to the recommendations or explain why the recommended action will not be taken.

(5) The Ombudsman may make any report, other than the annual report, available to the public on the expiry of 60 days after it has been submitted to the Minister.

24. (1) If it appears to the Ombudsman that information in an annual report or any additional report would adversely affect any person or organization, the Ombudsman must give those affected an opportunity to comment and must include a fair and accurate summary of the comments in the report.

(2) With respect to the inclusion of any personal information in an annual report or any additional report, the Ombudsman must comply with the relevant provisions of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and any other applicable Act of Parliament.

REGULATIONS

25. The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing that by this Act is to be or may be prescribed and generally to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

FIVE-YEAR REVIEW

26. (1) Within five years after this Act receives royal assent, a comprehensive review of the provisions, operation and administration of this Act must be undertaken by the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs of the House of Commons or such other committee as the House may designate for the purposes of this section.

(2) The committee referred to in subsection (1) must, within one year after a review is undertaken pursuant to that subsection, or within such further time as may be authorized by the House of Commons, submit a report on the review to Parliament, including a statement of any changes that the committee recommends.