The Expanding Mandate of the Ontario Ombudsman /

The Forum is grateful to Ontario’s former Ombudsman, André Marin, who launched this project; to Rhonda Moore, the Forum’s lead on the project; to Deputy Ombudsman Barbara Finlay, who served as Acting Ombudsman through most of the project; and to new Ombudsman Paul Dubé and the team at the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman, who have embraced its findings. [...] I also would like to thank the ombudsman of Quebec and New Brunswick for sharing their expertise and insight for the benefit of our new stakeholders, as well as Rick O’Connor, Ottawa’s Clerk and City Solicitor, Tony Brown, former Toronto District School Board general counsel, and Steve Orsini, Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Ontario Public Service, who reinforced the importance of local a [...] The challenge and the process In December 2014, the Ontario Legislature passed the Background: The Ombudsman’s Office investigates public Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency complaints about provincial government administration Act, 2014. [...] Every year, the Ombudsman handles tens of This report details the consultation process undertaken thousands of individual complaints and conducts broad in the subsequent 14 months by the Ombudsman’s systemic investigations.1 Although the Ombudsman’s Office and the Public Policy Forum with stakeholders recommendations are not binding, they have been 1 The Ombudsman’s Office handled 193,038 individu [...] The Office stakeholder conference in Toronto convened by the Forum was allocated additional resources by the Legislative and the Office of the Ombudsman in February 2016.