Vol. 150, No. 9 — May 4, 2016

Registration

SI/2016-21 May 4, 2016

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Certain Unauthorized Payments in Respect of Travel Expenses and Other Expenses, Allowances and Benefits (Canadian Forces) Remission Order

P.C. 2016-231 April 15, 2016

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, considering that the collection of debts for certain unauthorized payments in respect of travel expenses and other expenses, allowances and benefits is unreasonable and unjust, on the recommendation of the Minister of National Defence and the Treasury Board, pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) (see footnote a) of the Financial Administration Act (see footnote b), makes the annexed Certain Unauthorized Payments in Respect of Travel Expenses and Other Expenses, Allowances and Benefits (Canadian Forces) Remission Order.

Certain Unauthorized Payments in Respect of Travel Expenses and Other Expenses, Allowances and Benefits (Canadian Forces) Remission Order

Remission

1 Subject to section 2, remission is granted, in a total amount of $147,487,513 including interest, to any beneficiary of unauthorized payments in respect of

2 Amounts that have been recovered are not remitted.

3 (1) Remission is granted to any accounting officer for the unrecovered amount of any unauthorized payments referred to in section 1, including payable interest, for which the officer is responsible.

(2) In this section, accounting officer means any current or former accounting officer, as defined in article 1.02 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces, or any other person who has performed the functions of such an officer.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order remits debts incurred from unauthorized payments made in respect of certain travel or other expenses, allowances or benefits, resulting from a misinterpretation of the National Defence Act or regulations or instructions made under that Act, during the period beginning on April 1, 1999, and ending on January 31, 2011.

By government policy, the nature and scope of compensation and benefits sought for members of the Canadian Forces are guided in large part by the negotiated agreements reached by the National Joint Council for members of the Public Service.

The strategic military human resource compensation and benefits plan is designed to ensure an adequate compensation and benefits package in order to facilitate essential recruitment levels and to maintain retention of highly trained military personnel. The unauthorized payments of travel and other benefits were paid in a manner consistent with the overall aims and goals of the strategic military human resource compensation and benefits plan pursued by the Canadian Forces and supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat. A re-examination of the legal authorities exercised to pursue this strategic plan for the subject period has led to changes in regulations and instructions, as well as internal verification measures to ensure regulatory compliance.

The recovery of the unauthorized payments of travel and other benefits would impose an onerous administrative burden upon the Canadian Forces and significantly interfere with its efficiency. Collection efforts are considered to be cost prohibitive and economically unsound in most cases. The repayment of the amounts that beneficiaries received in compensation for actual and reasonable expenses would cause an extreme hardship and corresponding financial setback for many of these beneficiaries which include deceased, former and current members of the Canadian Forces, as well as their next of kin. Any attempts to pursue individual collection efforts would lead inevitably to the perception of a significant disparity of treatment amongst active service members, cause an adverse impact on the morale of the service and potentially affect the operational effectiveness of the Canadian Forces. As a consequence, recovery is considered to be both unreasonable and unjust.