2009
2009 - Ministry of Children and Youth Services - Signed, Sealed, UndeliveredA woman complained to the Ombudsman about delays in finalizing the adoption of her daughter.
2009 - Ministry of Community and Social Services (Family Responsibility Office) - Back to ZeroA woman whose ex-husband had failed to pay her spousal support payments for 10 years complained to the Ombudsman about the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), which had been unable to find him, much less enforce his support obligations.
2009 - Ministry of Community and Social Services (Family Responsibility Office) - How late is late?An MPP contacted the Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of a constituent who felt the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) was not taking adequate enforcement measures against her ex-husband
2009 - Ministry of Community and Social Services (Family Responsibility Office) - A Near WipeoutA single mother of three children complained to the Ombudsman’s Office that the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) had wrongly wiped out a debt of more than $60,000 in child and spousal support owed to her by her ex-husband.
- 2009 - Ministry of Community and Social Services (Ontario Disability Support Program) - Overpayment Overblown
A woman complained to the Ombudsman after fighting with Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) officials for six years over their calculation that they had overpaid her and she owed them more than $10,000.
- 2009 - Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - In the Nick of Time
An inmate in a provincial jail was appealing a court decision in his case. He had provided the necessary paperwork for his appeal to the jail’s records clerk, but was told that the institution had sent the documents to the wrong court.
- 2009 - Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - A Last Request
A 40-year-old man who was being held in a detention centre called the Ombudsman’s Office for help after he was diagnosed with liver cancer and told he had only a few months to live.
2009 - Ministry of Education - A Positive InterventionA 16-year-old student at a provincial school for the deaf who was gradually losing her eyesight due to a genetic condition complained to the Ombudsman that the school refused to provide her with the services of an “intervenor”.
- 2009 - Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure - Changing the Rules
A man had a number of renovations done to his home in April 2008, including the installation of foam insulation in his basement. To help pay for the upgrades, he was counting on assistance from the Home Energy Audit and Retrofit Rebate Program.
2009 - Ministry of Finance - Blast From the PastA man who had closed his business in 1998 was surprised to receive a tax bill from the Ministry of Finance nine years later – for more than $10,000 in unpaid sales taxes plus interest.
- 2009 - Ministry of Finance - A Taxing Ordeal
A New Brunswick man was employed in Ontario on a contract in 2003. He purchased a new vehicle in July 2003, just prior to returning home, and paid Ontario retail sales tax of $1,529.
2009 - Ministry of Government Services - Where Did You Come From?A 55-year-old woman had been trying for eight years to obtain a birth certificate so she could apply for a passport and take a trip outside Canada with her husband. She was told that her birth had never been registered.
2009 - Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (OHIP) - Working Without a Safety NetNine former foreign students who were living and working in Ontario under the federal Post-Graduation Work Permit Program complained to the Ombudsman about being refused health coverage under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).
- 2009 - Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (OHIP) - A Long Wait
A 70-year-old man had developed end-stage renal failure and was in need of a kidney transplant. He was told by his hospital that patients on the Ontario kidney transplant waiting list had to wait a minimum of 5-6 years for an organ. His doctor advised him that if he waited that long, he would be at an age and in a physical condition where he would not be able to undergo surgery.
- 2009 - Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (Northern Health Travel Grant) - Sense and Insensitivity
The parents of a disabled 17-year-old Sault Ste. Marie boy – two senior citizens with a limited income – applied for a Northern Health Travel Grant on their son’s behalf, for reimbursement of $1,150 in expenses incurred in travelling to Toronto so he could have surgery. Their application was rejected twice because it was not signed by the youth – despite a letter from the family’s doctor explaining that the boy’s physical and mental disabilities made it impossible for him to sign.
2009 - Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (Northern Health Travel Grant) - Room for An ExceptionA Sault Ste. Marie woman gave birth to a three-pound baby girl, 11 weeks premature. The baby was taken to a hospital in London, Ont. for special care, but the mother was unable to go with her.
- 2009 - Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (Ontario Drug Benefit Program) - The Best Medicine
A diabetic senior who cannot tolerate synthetic insulin and can only use pork insulin complained to the Ombudsman that the Ontario Drug Benefit Program refused to pay for it.
- 2009 - Ministry of Labour - Deeply Conflicted
A man who lost his leg in a workplace accident complained to the Ombudsman that the Ministry of Labour’s investigation was flawed because the inspector who conducted it had previously worked for the company where the incident occurred. An Ombudsman investigator determined the Ministry’s investigator had in fact worked for the company in question for 24 years – in fact, he had only left the company 18 months before, and this investigation was his first for the Ministry.
2009 - Ministry of Labour (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) - Who Owes Whom?After winning an appeal of his case before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), a man who had been injured at work expected to receive a substantial sum of money, representing several years’ worth of retroactive worker’s compensation payments. Weeks later, he was astonished to receive a letter from the WSIB asking him how he planned to repay an “overpayment” of $119,239 that he owed to them.
2009 - Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (OSAP) - A Burden LiftedA recent university graduate complained to the Ombudsman that she had been wrongly charged interest on her student loans for a year-long period during which she was still a student.
2009 - Ministry of Transportation - An “Original” ComplaintA new bride who had been married in Antigua applied to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to have her married name reflected on her driver’s licence. She presented the required documents, including her original marriage certificate from Antigua, at two local licence issuing offices. Each time, the Ministry’s head office rejected her marriage certificate as not “original.”
2009 - Ministry of Transportation - Licence to CelebrateA truck driver complained to the Ombudsman about delays in renewing his commercial “A-class” licence.
2009 - Ministry of Transportation - Repeat PunishmentAn Ontario man complained to the Ombudsman that he was being penalized twice for a drunk-driving offence.