CANADIAN FORCES OMBUDSMAN RAISES CONCERNS

  The Canadian Forces ombudsman won’t refer soldiers to a military program that is designed to resolve complaints at a local level after concerns were raised about the organization’s close relationship with senior officers as well as a lack of safeguards surrounding the confidential information provided by military personnel.
  Canadian Forces Ombudsman Gary Walbourne has faced intense pushback from the Canadian Forces and the Department for some of the recommendations he has made in his various reports about improvements or changes that could help military personnel and their families.
   In 2017 Walbourne publicly stated the senior leadership of the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence are so thin-skinned they strike back each time they see something they don’t like emerge from his office. The DND controls the Ombudsman’s budget to the point where Walbourne even has to get permission from the department to travel to meet military personnel.