The Rural Voice, 2001-11, Page 32Clare Lewis
Ontario's Ombudsman
Everything within the provincial
government comes within the
mandate of the Ombudsman, Lewis
said. His office is part of a promise
of accountability of government.
Though there have been man
ychanges in government, "People's
right to fairness and transparency
does not change," Lewis said.
"We're a place of last resort. Often
by the time people come to us they,
are very aggrieved," he said.
Officials in his office try to defuse
the frustration these people feel.
The Ombudsman's office received
26,000 complaints last year, 8,000 of
them from people in correctional
institutions. About 70 per cent of
these are resolved within three
weeks, possibly because the
complaint deals with something
that's not even within provincial
jurisdiction.
"The government by no means
always wrong," Lewis said.
If there's no easy resolution to the
complaint, however, an investigation
may be undertaken and this can take
a lot of time. In one case, Lewis's
office intervened when two
government health programs had "an
unfortunate and unintended
discriminatory result". Under the
programs cancer patients from
southern Ontario who were forced to
go to northern. Ontario for treatment
30 THE RURAL VOICE
News
received much more financial
support than those in the north
forceed to travel for treatment. The
Ombudsman argued on behalf of
those in the north and eventually, on
October 11, travel benefits for those
in northern Ontario more than
doubled.
The Ombudsman deals with
farmers both for on-farm and non-
farm dealings with government,
Lewis said. Currently his office is
investigating a case where the
government changed the course of a
river and now claims it owns a piece
of a farmer's land because of the
change.
In another case, a woman suddenly
found on her assessment notice that
part of her farm had been declared a
significant wetland without any
notice to her. The Ombudsman
argued on her behalf and eventually
the procedure for declaring a wetland
was changed so that permission had
to be sought from the landowner
before authorities could enter the
property to investigate if a wetland
was significant.
When the managed forest program
was first cancelled, then reinstated,
the Ombudsman argued on behalf of
woodlot owners that management
plans they had in place for the
original program should be accepted
for the new program.
But the Ombudsman can't solve all
problems. "I'm not a court. I can only
recommend and persuade," he said.
"It's left to government to assume the
responsibility to implement a
recommendation.
"We are an accountability
mechanism," he explained.
"Governments can come and go but
the bureaucracy stays." While most
public servants try to do a good job,
they can make mistakes and people
get defensive when they've made a
mistake.
As well as his office, MPPs often
work as ombudsmen trying to
intervene on behalf of constituents
with government officials. The
Ombudsman's office however is at
armslength from the government and
its staffers are not government
employees.
"We have a lot of success in
persuading the public service when
Gert;e Blake. OFA Field Rep for Grey -Bruce, presents her outstanding
volunteer award to Harriett Ellicott of Sullivan Township for hundreds of
hours spent on behalf of her fellow farmers in fighting for crop insurance
compensation for forages. Despite disappointments, Ellicott has continued
the fight all the way to a meeting scheduled with the deputy minister with the
possibility of using the Ombudsman's office if the meeting is unsuccessful.