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2007

 



  • A Matter of Time 2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - A Matter of Time

    With the help of his hospital, a man applied to the Ministry of Health’s Assistive Devices Program (ADP) for a semi-annual payment of $300 for the medical supplies he required after ostomy surgery. His application was turned down, however, because of an error. By the time the form was returned to the hospital, the error corrected and the form returned, many months had passed. The ADP refused him his $300 cheque for the first six months of the year, telling him his application could not be “back-dated.”

  • Some Things Just Can’t Wait2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Some Things Just Can’t Wait

    Within a month of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a woman contacted the Ombudsman’s Office because she was worried about getting funding for medication she would need. Her doctor had applied to the Ministry of Health’s Individual Clinical Review process and she had received an e-mail indicating it was approved.

  • “Specialist” Treatment2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - “Specialist” Treatment

    A resident of northern Ontario had to travel to Winnipeg to see a specialist for medical treatment. She was denied funding for her travel costs under the Ministry of Health’s Northern Health Travel Grant program because the doctor was not certified as a specialist by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

  • Every Bit Helps2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Every Bit Helps

    A social worker contacted the Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of a patient who had had part of one leg amputated, and needed hemodialysis treatments three times a week at a local hospital. The patient received Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits and his municipality subsidized his accommodation in a retirement home. Still, after he paid his monthly accommodation fees, he had $116 left for all his other expenses, out of which he had to pay $96 a month to a community-based agency for transportation to his hemodialysis treatments.

  • An Early Christmas Present2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - An Early Christmas Present

    A man contacted the Ombudsman’s Office in fear of bankruptcy, after the Trillium Drug Program turned down his request for help with his wife’s drug costs of $350-400 per month.

  • Keeping up Appearances 2007 - Ministry of Government Services - Keeping up Appearances

    The president of a company that manufactures outerwear complained about the fairness of the Ministry’s tendering process for $2.5 million worth of outdoor patrol wear, primarily for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Among his concerns was that some of the tender specifications regarding the outer fabric layer of the patrol jacket were not justified – he alleged the OPP were using these requirements to target a specific company to make the jackets.

  • A "Grand" Error2007 - Family Responsibility Office - A "Grand" Error

    An elderly couple took on the responsibility of caring for their young grandchildren following the death of their daughter in April 2000. In November 2000, a court order gave custody of the children to their father and ordered that the grandparents pay him $609 per month from money held by them in trust for the children’s support. The couple made the payments through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) until a second court order terminated the payments in February 2001. The FRO received a copy of this order, but did not register it in their records.

  • Too Little, Too Late2007 - Family Responsibility Office - Too Little, Too Late

    A woman entitled to $500 a month in support who had received nothing in six months complained to the Ombudsman about the FRO’s lax enforcement of support orders. FRO officials responded that a support deduction notice and writ of seizure on the payor’s property were in place but because the man was self-employed, he had been allowed to make an agreement to make voluntary payments

  • Time to Pay Up2007 - Family Responsibility Office - Time to Pay Up

    A mother who had not received any child support payments complained that FRO was not doing enough. An attempt to get the delinquent support payor into court failed when he managed to evade being served with court documents. After the Ombudsman’s Office inquired into the case, the FRO ensured the man was served with the papers, the court granted a warrant of committal requiring his imprisonment, and he paid $15,000 in outstanding child support.

  • Slow to Take the Bait2007 - Ministry of Natural Resources - Slow to Take the Bait

    Two members of a Métis family had been writing to the Ministry of Natural Resources for more than six years, requesting an exemption from and a reimbursement of the payment of commercial fishing royalties, based on their aboriginal status. They hoped the money refunded could help support their elderly mother, but complained their requests had been denied while other Métis had received similar reimbursements.

  • Saved From the Street2007 - Ontario Disability Support Program - Saved From the Street

    A woman with significant mental health problems was at risk of having her ODSP benefits cut off because she refused to meet with program staff. She had received an eviction notice and was on the verge of becoming homeless.

  • Food for Thought2007 - Ontario Disability Support Program - Food for Thought

    A mother of three who has multiple sclerosis complained to the Ombudsman that her special ODSP diet allowance, which had allowed her to be on a high-protein diet, had been cut from $250 per month to $20 per month in April 2006, following changes to the Ministry’s eligibility requirements.

  • Summertime Blues2007 - Special-needs Children - Summertime Blues

    A single mother of an autistic teen contacted the Ombudsman’s Office out of frustration after she tried to obtain funding for summer transportation for her son to a specialized treatment centre about 50 kilometres away. The family’s regional school board provided transportation during the school year, but in summer the mother’s only recourse had been to pay thousands of dollars in taxi fares.

  • An Appealing Change2007 - Administrative Tribunals - An Appealing Change

    The owners of a show dog blamed the dog’s premature death on a veterinarian. They complained to the College of Veterinarians of Ontario and, dissatisfied with the College’s decision, appealed to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

  • Powerful Compromise2007 - Hydro One - Powerful Compromise

    A recipient of Ontario Disability Support Program benefits had accumulated an outstanding Hydro bill of $1,947. When she came to the Ombudsman for help at the end of October 2006, she had been a given deadline of mid-November to pay the bill plus all arrears, which she was unable to do, given her limited income.

  • And Your Name is...?2007 - Office of the Registrar General - And Your Name is...?

    A man who had been trying for nine months to have his surname changed through the Office of the Registrar General contacted the Ombudsman in frustration. The Registrar General’s staff would not process the name change because they said the man’s spelling of his middle name did not match the spelling in their records.

  • Driven to Distraction2007 - Ministry of Transportation - Driven to Distraction

    A man who had recently moved to Ontario from the U.S. kept hitting a brick wall in trying to obtain a driver’s licence, despite 40 years’ driving experience. The Ministry of Transportation advised him that the papers he had produced from the U.S. did not provide enough information about his driving history. The man complained to the Ombudsman, as he needed a licence to drive to work and take his children to school.

  • Harsh "Scent"-ence2007 - Ministry of Correctional Services - Harsh "Scent"-ence

    A female inmate in a correctional facility complained to the Ombudsman’s Office that she and other prisoners were being exposed to raw sewage. She claimed that correctional officers had been given protective masks to wear, but not the inmates.

  • Last-Minute Test2007 - Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities - Last-Minute Test

    A student nurse had almost reached her graduation day after two years at a community college when she, along with 35 other students, received an e-mail from the college registrar telling them to pay an extra tuition fee of $527.10 – or they would not get their diplomas. Like most students, she was struggling to make ends meet. The extra tuition fee was deducted from her Ontario Student Assistance Program cheque, leaving her only $285 to live on.

  • Refund Relief2007 - Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities - Refund Relief

    A woman paid more than $7,500 in tuition to a community college on behalf of her niece, who was coming from abroad to study in Ontario. When the niece was unable to obtain a student visa, the college would not refund the tuition money without a letter confirming the visa had been denied.

  • A Medical Necessity2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - A Medical Necessity

    The Ombudsman received a complaint from a social worker at an Ontario children’s hospital about the impact of a decision to stop funding the prosthesis insertion procedure for boys under the age of 18 who had lost testicles due to disease or other conditions. The social worker complained on behalf of a group of caregivers at the hospital, including doctors and nurses.

  • The Difference a Few Days Make2007 - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - The Difference a Few Days Make

    The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) stipulates that people moving to Ontario who have been out of the country for more than seven months must wait three months before the province will cover their health care.