# 2018-151 Careers, Counselling and Probation

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-03-29

The grievor was issued Counselling and Probation (C&P) for a conduct deficiency consisting of illicit drug use. He argued that his alleged admission of drug use to a supervisor was unreliable hearsay from a single biased source. As redress, the grievor requested that the C&P and its conditions be removed from his personnel record and that he be promoted as scheduled before being issued the C&P.

The Initial Authority denied redress, finding that the grievor's admissions of drug use to at least two of his supervisors constituted reliable evidence upon which to base a remedial measure.

The Committee explained that a remedial measure may be initiated if there is reliable evidence that establishes a conduct or performance deficiency on a balance of probabilities. It found that the grievor's admissions of illicit drug use to two of his supervisors, recorded contemporaneously in detailed Divisional Notes, constituted reliable evidence upon which to prove a conduct deficiency on a balance of probabilities. The Committee also found that C&P was the appropriate remedial measure that best reflected the degree of incompatibility between the grievor's prohibited drug use and his continued service in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and that it was issued in accordance with applicable policy.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not afford the grievor redress.

FA decision summary

The Commander Royal Canadian Navy, acting as the FA, agreed with the Committee's recommendation to deny the grievance. In his de novo review, the FA found that there was evidence that the grievor's conduct breached the CAF's policy on prohibited drug use. The FA considered the provisions of Canadian Forces General Message 112/14 - AMENDMENT - DECENTRALIZATION OF AUTHORITIES RELATED TO REMEDIAL MEASURES AND ADMINITRATIVE ACTIONS stating that the minimum remedial measure in such cases "will normally be a Counselling and Probation (C&P)" and found that a C&P was justified in the grievor's case, given the type of drug used, the detrimental effect it had on the grievor's performance and conduct, and the negative impacts on his personal life.