Roundup: From ombudsman to officer?

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The current military ombudsman is trying to pitch the notion that the government doesn’t need to create a new independent body to investigate complaints about sexual misconduct – rather, he is pitching that his office can do it, if only parliament would loosen his shackles and let him report to them directly rather than to the reporting to the minister of defence. I am dubious, and a little alarmed.

For starters, I am not certain that he is actually the best-placed person to field those complaints, rather than a centre that specializes in it, that is properly trauma-informed and so on. There is a reason why the Deschamps Report called for an independent body to do this kind of work, and I’m not sure that the military ombudsman is independent enough (especially as many of those who fill the role have military backgrounds, and are just as likely to be inured to the highly sexualized culture in the Forces that is part of what needs to be changed). It also detracts from other work that the ombudsman should be doing around other aspects of military life than just this particular aspect of it.

The bigger part I am reticent about, however, is because the very last thing we need is yet another unaccountable Officer of Parliament, as we already have far too many, and some of them are problems. Look no further than the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who is turning himself into a media darling and who is going far beyond his legislative mandate, but because he is accountable to no one – and because he is being encouraged to keep going beyond his mandate by the media – he is really pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. As for a military ombudsman, you don’t have to go too far in history to see others who held the role who were also becoming problematic – one of whom was also becoming a media darling, and who got increasingly erratic as time went on (especially once he was no longer in the job). It’s not the kind of person who should be in a role that has no accountability, and if it’s happened once, it’s likely to happen again, particularly in the current environment. I’m not unconvinced that the current reporting mechanism of the ombudsman’s office isn’t a problem, but there needs to be another solution than creating another Officer of Parliament.

Good reads:

  • It looks like Moderna shipments may be lower than expected next month.
  • In her first appearance as head of the vaccine rollout, Brigadier-General Krista Brodie gave a shout out to urge the Forces and Canadians to better align with values.
  • Omar Alghabra says it’s still too early to start talking about lifting travel restrictions.
  • The former military ombudsman says he’s willing to testify at committee alongside Sajjan about the General Vance allegations, saying that his testimony won’t change.
  • There are questions as to whether Bill C-10 would also target online porn platforms about their own Canadian content or lack thereof.
  • There appears to be no independent oversight over the federal government’s promise to proactively release documents online.
  • NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq has opted not to run again in the next election.
  • Here is a good explainer of Quebec’s Bill 96, and its plans to make amendments unilateral amendments to the Constitution (which is a bad idea).
  • Rob Salerno suggests that it’s galling for Senators to be looking for new allowances in Bill S-4 after they’ve been largely absent for the past year.
  • Colby Cosh considers Quebec’s plans to modify parts of the Constitution, and how much of it is a political trap for Trudeau and the rest of Confederation.
  • Susan Delacourt takes a longer view of the history of constitutional wrangling in this country when it comes to that Quebec bill and the trap it sets.
  • Robert Hiltz castigates this government’s deep incuriosity with the snowballing investigations into misconduct in the military, so as to wash their hands of it all.

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