NUNAVUT
Health care, compensation and training are among seven areas under review as the ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces investigates Canadian Rangers' complaints.

"We had heard some complaints over the eight to 10 months prior, some pay issues and administrative things," said ombudsman Gary Walbourne. "We decided in our outreach we would talk to the Rangers, and there was enough there to help me make the decision that we should have a look into exactly what is going on in the treatment and the wellbeing of the Rangers."

These complaints surfaced during a Canadian Armed Forces review of the Rangers organization and structure that began in April of 2015.

The information led to this separate review by Walbourne.

The investigation was launched at 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group headquarters in Yellowknife in April 2016. 1 CRPG includes Ranger patrol groups from all three territories.

The ombudsman's office is independent from the Canadian Armed Forces chain of command, so issues brought to the ombudsman can be relayed directly to the defence minister.

So far the Ranger review team has visited three of the five Canadian Ranger Patrol Groups nationally, and is scheduled to meet with the remaining groups over the next 60 to 90 days. He plans to complete the review within six months.

"Talking to the Rangers, I'm absolutely amazed by their sense of pride and participation," said Walbourne. He said while the forces have been working to promote the Ranger program in Canada, his concern is that the group is not receiving the full coverage of possible services it could be on the ground.

One area he will look at is how the Rangers are categorized on the reserve force spectrum and what sort of access they have to benefits and training afforded to military members based on their level of service.

"The Canadian Rangers are charged with being the eyes and ears of the military in sparsely populated Northern, coastal, and isolated areas of Canada. Members come from diverse backgrounds, and are recruited for their unique survival skills and extensive knowledge of the land," stated his message.

But the reality that Rangers serve in rural areas, away from centres where policies are put in place, means administration and communication channels are not always a priority. He said there is no region where this is more apparent than in the North.

Nunavut News/North visited a recent training session for Nunavut Rangers in Yellowknife, where Ranger leaders from each hamlet said they were being trained in how to provide better paperwork to headquarters, to increase those lines of communication.

As for lack of access to benefits Rangers are entitled to should they become ill or injured while in service to the country, Walbourne said poor information sharing is the main cause for this disparity.

"It's an education gap where people are not quite sure who they should speak to or how they should reach out to get access."

In the North, Rangers are promoted by the forces as key contributors to surveillance and sovereignty. The prime minister's mandate letter to the minister of National Defence requested that the department expand the size of the Rangers and increase its resources.

Rangers patrols were recently issued global positioning units, radios and additional uniforms. They will receive new rifles this fall. The Rangers also have a new training program titled Canadian Ranger Basic Military Indoctrination, which is targeted towards new recruits.

Walbourne said a Northern lens could also be added to his own investigation, so that the report considers the lifestyles of Rangers living North of 60. But mostly he wants to see standard practice taking place regardless of geography.

If all goes as planned, Walbourne hopes to come full circle and announce review findings at 1CRPG in Yellowknife in the spring of 2017.

"We're still in the evidence-gathering mode," he said. "I'm an evidence-based organization, so wherever the evidence takes us that's where we'll go."

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