Acts of Founded Wrongdoing
On 15 March 2017, the departmental Internal Disclosure Office (IDO) received a disclosure of wrongdoing pursuant to the Canadian Armed Forces Disclosure Process (CAFDP) pertaining to alleged wrongdoings by multiple Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) units. Specifically, the following allegation was made:• Gross mismanagement – It was alleged that some sentences pronounced at courts martial were either not being carried out in a timely fashion or were not being carried out at all.The subsequent investigation conducted by the Directorate of Special Examinations and Inquiries (DSEI) concluded that:• The issue had been previously identified in 2002.• The direction provided to implement the disciplinary and administrative measures was non-standard.• Confirmation of the corrective action taken was not tracked at the national level.• A significant number of disciplinary and administrative measures had not been addressed.• Given that the issue had been previously identified in 2002, and that the problem persisted in 2017, the ongoing wrongdoing identified during this investigation constitutes a “gross mismanagement” under the CAFDP.
The investigation report contained the following recommendations:
• At the end of each fiscal year, all commands submit an annual report confirming all disciplinary and administrative corrective measures taken within their organization for inclusion in a national level annual report.
• A thorough review be conducted of all discrepancies identified during the course of the investigation to ensure that appropriate disciplinary and administrative corrective measures have been taken and properly documented.
• The Canadian Armed Forces Logistics Training Centre (CAFLTS) include the administration of administrative and disciplinary measures in its training for Logistics and Human Resources professionals.
• Action be taken to establish a national level oversight capability responsible for ensuring all future disciplinary and administrative measures are actioned and documented. This endeavour should include the development of a comprehensive Defence Administrative Order and Directive (DAOD) outlining the procedures required by all parties to ensure all disciplinary and administrative measures have been taken and that confirmation of the action taken has been provided to the national level monitoring authority.
The DND Senior Officer for Internal Disclosure (SOID) has informed management of the findings of the DSEI investigation. The following actions have been initiated across the CAF to correct the deficiencies identified in this investigation:
• Awareness promotion of the monitoring function and efforts to inform and remind Commanding Officers (CO) of their obligations in accordance with the Queen’s Regulations and Orders (QR&O).
• Issuance of a new Canadian Armed Forces General Message (CANFORGEN) to clarify the roles, responsibilities, and procedures surrounding the implementation monitoring framework including the role of the monitoring authority.
• Introduction of a case management system to facilitate monitoring of the implementation of administrative and disciplinary measures.
• Issuance of an update to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to ensure weekly monitoring of messages and responses.
• Regular transmission of instructions and reminders to units and COs as well as a quarterly report to L1 Commanders and the Chief of Staff to the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (COS VCDS).
• Establishment of SOPs that include the reissuance of a CANFORGEN every three years to ensure that it remains relevant in unit orderly rooms.
• Through a verification analysis, confirmation of any outstanding administrative and disciplinary measures dating back to 2010, with units and COS VCDS informed accordingly.
• Coordination with the CAFLTS to augment the training program on the administration of administrative and disciplinary measures implementation.
No further action is required.