Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures

Military Grievances External Review Committee 2018 - 2019

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for Military Grievances External Review Committee for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.

Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.

Mandate:

The raison d’être of the Committee is to provide an independent and external review of military grievances. Section 29 of the National Defence Act provides a statutory right for an officer or a non-commissioned member who has been aggrieved, to grieve a decision, an act or an omission in the administration of the affairs of the Canadian Armed Forces. The importance of this broad right cannot be overstated since it is, with certain narrow exceptions, the only formal complaint process available to the Canadian Armed Forces. The Committee is an independent administrative tribunal reporting to Parliament through the Minister of National Defence.
The Committee reviews grievances referred to it pursuant to s. 29 of the National Defence Act and provides findings and recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Canadian Armed Forces member who submitted the grievance. The Committee also has the obligation to deal with all matters before it as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and the considerations of fairness permit. The Committee operates under two programs: Independent Review of Military Grievances, and Internal Services.

Military Grievances External Review Committee Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2019

Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Expenditure category	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2019 ($ thousands)	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2018 ($ thousands)	Variance ($ thousands)
Travel
Operational activities	$6.00	$11.00	-$5.00
Key stakeholders	$0.20	$0.00	$0.20
Internal governance	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Training	$6.90	$7.00	-$0.10
Other	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
A. Total travel	$13.10	$18.00	-$4.90
B. Hospitality	$1.60	$2.00	-$0.40
C. Conference fees	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total [A+B+C]	$14.70	$20.00	-$5.30
International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year

Total travel:

Compared to fiscal year 2017-18, the Committee’s travel expenditures decreased by $4.4K. This decrease is mainly due to the fact that, contrary to the previous fiscal year, the Committee did not have to reimburse the expenses claimed by the Privy Council Office to cover the travel costs of candidates during the Governor in Council appointment process for Committee members.

Hospitality:

Compared to fiscal year 2017-18, the Committee's hospitality expenditures did not change significantly.

Conference fees:

Compared to fiscal year 2017-18, the Committee's Conference fees did not change significantly.