Canada | Ontario Ombudsman and International Ombudsman Institute co-host training session in Ontario

From Oct. 23 – Oct. 25, 2017, the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office presented three one-day workshops on managing unreasonable complainant conduct for its staff and participants from other North American oversight offices. Presented by Donald Sword of the New South Wales Ombudsman, the sessions focused on techniques and strategies for mitigating challenging complainant behaviour and mediating issues arising from that behaviour.

An application has been submitted for the International Ombudsman Institute’s (IOI) North American subvention, which if awarded will see IOI member offices refunded their registration fees.

Participants attended from IOI offices such as the Ombudsman de Montreal; the federal Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman; the Joint Office of Citizen Complaints in Dayton, Ohio; Ombudsman Toronto; the Office of the Nova Scotia Ombudsman; the Alberta Ombudsman; and the Office of the Hydro One Ombudsman. The training was a greatly appreciated by all, with one participant calling it “the best I’ve ever attended – informative, practical, funny, really useful.” The Ontario Ombudsman hopes to organize similar training opportunities for IOI members in the near future, including webinars.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario