The apparent falling out with Sajjan was also the culmination of rising friction between the hard-charging, blunt-spoken ombudsman and the defence department, which had grown increasingly irritated with his repeated public criticisms on a number of topics. (The Canadian Press)ĭocuments, obtained by CBC News through both the Federal Court and independent sources, corroborate Walbourne's statements about the meeting date and the limits placed on his powers. Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. So there comes a point in time when you have to consider whether I could do any further good." "So when you take away the tools that allow you to do the job, you can't get an audience with the minister to talk about subjects that are of importance. "For about the last eight or 10 months I was in office, I sat there without financial or human resource authorities signed off by the deputy minister," Walbourne said. The conflict, he confirmed, led to him asking for early retirement. "The authorities granted to the ombudsman by the deputy minister's office were altered, changed, truncated, and it just went on and on." There were dozens of them that were set and cancelled over a period of time," he said. "Every meeting from that meeting forward was cancelled. Walbourne said that after his clash with Sajjan - which took place in a private meeting on Main the minister's Parliament Hill office - he quickly found himself out of the loop. "Going into detail may breach some of the oaths I've taken as Order in Council appointee." "It was a stiff conversation between adults that got a little heated," he said. Walbourne refused to disclose the substance of his disagreement with the minister in the late winter of 2018, but said it was serious enough that Sajjan refused to speak or even meet with him for the remainder of his tenure. He also said the process gained significant traction only after a major, private falling out between him and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. ![]() In an interview with CBC News, Walbourne said the internal review was a flawed, politically-motivated inquiry intended to isolate and silence him. The review was instrumental in the early retirement of former watchdog Gary Walbourne, according to recently released Federal Court documents. ![]() The Department of National Defence conducted a closed-door, wide-ranging review of complaints of mismanagement, nepotism and misuse of public funds in the Office of the Canadian Forces ombudsman last year, CBC News has learned.
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