Response to The View from Charlottetown...

Yeah you really do have to read it 3/4 times to understand AND appreciate the complexity of contradicting themselves yet it still gives the same impression we have always had about VRAB...

COMPLAIN ALL YOU WANT MR. OMBUDSMAN AND VETERAN COMMUNITY WE STILL MAKE THE DECISIONS WE WANT TO!

I received a message from the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) following the publication of my last blog, where I mentioned my recent discussion with the chair, Mr. John Larlee about the publication of noteworthy decisions.
As always, I welcome feedback on my blog posts and I think it only fair that I publish VRAB’s response. In my last blog posting, I had stated that “Currently, the VRAB publishes its interpretation of these noteworthy decisions, but not the decision proper.” The Board responded to my blog posting by providing the Office with the following clarification:

VRAB has posted the full text of its Noteworthy Decisions on its Web site. We have provided a summary for every decision, which is common practice among administrative tribunals and courts. The decision summaries are not interpretations of the decisions (decisions speak for themselves), and are provided for the reader’s benefit.

The only ways in which these decisions differ from the original signed copies is that they: are depersonalized to protect applicants’ privacy; and may have a slightly different appearance (layout, spacing, font, etc.). This is addressed in our Disclaimer and How the Board depersonalizes decisions, found on the Noteworthy Decisions page of our Web site.

In response to my statement that “Mr. Larlee explained that privacy rules and lack of funds limit the Board’s ability to publish all decisions”, VRAB has clarified that:

The Board’s ability to publish all of its decisions is entirely related to funding and has nothing to do with privacy rules. We do not have the resources to publish all decisions (about 4500 annually) without compromising service to Veterans.

For this reason, the Board looked for a way to increase transparency in decision-making that would be both realistic financially and useful for Veterans. It decided that publishing Noteworthy Decisions would meet these criteria.

Noteworthy Decisions give Veterans access to the Board’s most relevant and instructive decisions, including decisions on the most commonly-claimed conditions. This allows applicants to be aware of decisions made in cases similar to their own. We will continue to post decisions in both official languages as new ones are identified and depersonalized.

Guy




http://www.ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca/blog-blogue/post-eng.cfm?174