BackNew Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé took his oath of office today, beginning a five-year term as the province’s independent, impartial watchdog. Mr. Dubé is the province’s seventh Ombudsman since the office was established in 1975.
“I am honoured to have the opportunity to serve the people of Ontario as their Ombudsman,” said Mr. Dubé, who previously served as Canada’s first federal Taxpayers’ Ombudsman in Ottawa. “Since entering the ombudsman field, I have always had great admiration and respect for the work done by this office. It is a dream come true for me to become Ontario’s Ombudsman at this historic time in the office’s mandate.”
Mr. Dubé said he intends to build on the office’s legacy of improving public services through resolution of tens of thousands of complaints, and conducting systemic investigations that have sparked widespread reforms.
Mr. Dubé’s term begins as the Ombudsman’s office marks a milestone in its mandate, which was expanded last year under Bill 8, the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014. In addition to more than 500 provincial ministries, agencies, boards, commissions, corporations and tribunals, the Ombudsman can now take complaints about Ontario’s 444 municipalities, 82 school boards and 21 publicly funded universities.
The office has had oversight of school boards for six months and municipalities and universities for three. To date, 393 complaints have been received about school boards, 970 about municipalities and 91 about universities. Most of those complaints have been resolved informally, at the local level. No formal investigations have been launched to date.
The Ombudsman is an office of last resort, he noted, whether the issue involves provincial bodies or those in the broader public sector. “Ombudsman staff are experienced at pointing people in the right direction to resolve their issues – but we are also here to help them when those avenues are exhausted, or if there is a broader issue that warrants investigation.”
The Office of the Ombudsman handles more than 20,000 public complaints per year relating to provincial government and broader public sector bodies, as well as complaints about closed meetings in some 200 municipalities. Complaint trends, investigation updates, statistics and summaries of selected cases will be published in the Ombudsman’s Annual Report later this year. Mr. Dubé noted that he is reviewing the office’s pending investigations and will report publicly on them in due course.He added that he looks forward to connecting with citizens and stakeholders across the province, through ongoing outreach.
Source: Ombudsman of Ontario Canada
