Alberta Ombudsman's investigation of the remote area heating allowance program

Phillips’ complaint because the investigation found that the Department was administratively unfair in that it did not advise him of a change to the Program rules requiring applications for rebate to be received by the Department within one year of the date of the fuel purchase as set out in the Order-in-Council 138/2003. [...] The Ombudsman met with the Deputy Minister and other officials of the Department on May 11, 2006 to discuss his findings on the Phillips’ investigation and to discuss the larger issue of remedies for other similarly affected applicants. [...] To assist applicants in identifying the applicable receipts, the Department provided information on the date of the application where applicable receipts were disallowed and a list of receipts that the Department considered eligible and for which rebates were paid. [...] Recommendations In addition to the initiative described above, the Ombudsman’s investigation resulted in additional findings and recommendations which will add to the fairness of the process for delivering this Program in the future. [...] The Department accepts photocopies of the application side of the form or faxes that show only the application side.