(October 5, 2023) In preparing this year's Annual Report, my eighth as Ombudsman, I am struck by the sheer scope of change that Ontario’s public sector, including my Office, has experienced since 2016.
When I issued my first Annual Report that year, six months after my appointment, the government had just opened a huge swath of public sector bodies – municipalities, universities and school boards – to Ombudsman oversight for the first time. This was an enormous change for the better, extending our ability to promote transparency, accountability, fairness, and a respect for rights. It more than doubled the number of organizations that people could seek our help with, on top of hundreds of provincial ministries, agencies, boards, corporations, tribunals, etc.
Two years later, the government further extended our jurisdiction, to French language services and child protection services, conferring upon us the responsibility to promote and protect the rights of Francophones and vulnerable young people. We assumed that work in May 2019 – 10 months before COVID-19 changed everything for most of the next three years.
It was evident during the pandemic that people needed and relied upon their governments and public services – and our independent oversight of them – more than ever. Those years underlined the literal life-and-death nature of public services and our important role in ensuring they function properly and fairly, even (and especially) in times of crisis.
Now, as the crisis recedes, it is time for public services to build on the lessons learned, to repair the gaps exposed during the pandemic, and reach out to the people who may have fallen through them. For the Ombudsman’s Office, it is a time to exercise the unique, twofold strengths of this institution: The expertise to help a broad diversity of Ontarians overcome the problems they encounter with public services, and the power to help improve those services for the future.
The Annual Report details the stories, trends and lessons gleaned from the 24,551 cases (complaints and inquiries) we handled in fiscal 2022-2023. It illustrates the many ways we helped Ontarians with vital issues like access to justice and obtaining essential supports and services.
As the dust clears from the disruption of two historic mandate expansions and a global pandemic, the value of an essential democratic institution like the Ombudsman in providing stronger, broader, more consistent oversight can now be clearly seen.
Since my last Annual Report, for example, we have released reports on four major investigations, all of which addressed complex organizational issues, and serve to enhance governance in ways that will help many Ontarians in future, especially the most vulnerable:
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Our systemic investigation into oversight of long-term care homes during the pandemic revealed the degree to which the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s Inspection Branch was overwhelmed during the first COVID wave. I made 76 recommendations aimed at ensuring the long-term care sector is prepared for the next, inevitable public health emergency – and all were accepted.
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Our systemic investigation of delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board detailed the ordeals faced by thousands of people on both sides of the landlord-tenant relationship, due to a lack of trained adjudicators, antiquated technology and a host of other problems. I made 61 recommendations to address these issues, all of which were accepted – and the government has already committed $6.5 million toward these improvements.
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Our probe of the troubling case of “Misty,” a 13-year old Indigenous girl who went missing in a Southern Ontario city for several weeks – when she was supposed to be in foster care supervised by two children’s aid societies (CASs) – exposed serious gaps in services for at-risk children in the North, as well as in communication between agencies. I made 58 recommendations in that case, and stressed the need for CASs to incorporate learnings from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls into their training and decision-making. All were accepted.
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Our review of the near-tragic circumstances of “Brandon,” a boy in the care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, who endured deplorable living conditions and neglect in a family member’s home for years, exposed serious problems with the CAS’s supervision. It has accepted all 18 of my recommendations, and it and other CASs are using the case as a training tool.
Progress in new areas
Children and youth: It is particularly heartening to see the progress made in just four short years by our dedicated Children and Youth Unit, which led the “Misty” and “Brandon” investigations and has done tremendous work in promoting the rights of young people in care.
In addition to modeling methods of youth-focused, trauma-informed approaches to cases that deal with vulnerable young people directly, our Children and Youth Unit also makes special efforts to reach and hear concerns from groups that are overrepresented in the child welfare system – through our Indigenous Circle, Black Children, Youth and Families Table, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Outreach teams. The Unit’s expertise in cases involving the use of physical restraints in child protection settings has also borne fruit, as our staff closely consulted with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services in its development of new standards and regulations.
Indigenous services: I am also proud to be making progress on the development and implementation of our Indigenous Services Plan, which is our commitment to constitutionally recognized First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples within Ontario. It is a top priority for me to raise awareness and seek to engage with these communities in all aspects of our jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, children and youth in care, justice, housing, health care, education, corrections and natural resources.
Indigenous peoples have a special constitutional relationship with the Crown and provincial governments. In addition to providing assistance to individuals from Indigenous communities, my team and I aspire to play a helpful role in informing nation-to-nation and government –to-government discussions. In recent months, we have had several meaningful conversations and meetings to begin building these important relationships.
French language services: In 2019, the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the French Language Services Act (FLSA), as well as the position of Commissioner of French Language Services, were transferred to the Ombudsman. The objective was to bring the experience and expertise of the Ombudsman’s Office to issues involving the FSLA. At that time, I committed to ensuring that:
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The French Language Services Commissioner would be proactive, visible, accessible, and actively engaged with the community;
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The Commissioner would have a high profile within the Francophone community;
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The Commissioner would operate collaboratively but independently of government, individual complainants, and interest groups;
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We would build a skilled and passionate French Language Services Unit;
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We would make the Commissioner’s role an integral part of the Ombudsman’s public service model;
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We would handle complaints effectively, prioritizing direct contact with complainants in the resolution of their issues;
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The FLS Unit and the Commissioner would have the resources required to do impactful work, be supported by the entire Ombudsman organization, and benefit from a deep pool of expertise;
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The Commissioner and the FLS Unit would have an impact in promoting French language services by monitoring compliance with the FLSA, identifying issues of non-compliance, and contributing to improvements;
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The FLS Unit would do thorough investigations and publish impactful reports with evidence-based solutions to problems; and
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The Commissioner would table separate Annual Reports devoted to our work under the FLSA.
We have honoured all of those commitments and accomplished meaningful results in the promotion and protection of French language services. I am particularly proud of the many constructive changes to which our FLS Unit has contributed. These include the development of bilingual Amber Alerts, simultaneous translation of government press conferences during the pandemic, and the inclusion of accents on drivers’ licences and health cards. They are a testament to the dedication of the French Language Services Unit and the resolute support provided by our entire organization.
This has been a milestone year in French language services, as the “active offer” of services in French is now required under the French Language Services Act. This change recognizes the rights of Franco-Ontarians and reflects several of the improvements our Office has called for since 2019.
Applying the ombudsman approach – engaging directly with Franco-Ontarians, encouraging them to come forward with their issues, promoting their rights, conducting impartial, independent reviews, making evidence-based recommendations and recommending improvements – has been effective, and I am optimistic that we will continue to see improvements in response to our recommendations in this area. Among other things, we are following up on changes resulting from our Office’s investigation of cuts to French-language programs at Laurentian University, and the Interim Commissioner has launched a new investigation into the apparent lack of French in the government’s outdoor advertising. More information will be provided in our next Annual Report on French language services – watch for it in December.
Municipalities: Another not-quite-so-new area where our work and expertise continues to pay dividends is the municipal sector. The 2022-2023 Annual Report details many stories of how we helped individual residents with by-law enforcement issues and the like, as well as vulnerable people seeking fairness from housing authorities and utilities. Meanwhile, as the government has added more accountability mechanisms to municipalities – integrity commissioners, codes of conduct and closed meeting investigators are now all mandatory – our Office has played a critical role in providing consistent guidance to municipalities across the province.
For this Ombudsman, the only thing more satisfying than resolving complaints is preventing them – and one way we do that is through communications products that inform people and agencies of their rights and obligations. For example, we distributed a new edition of our popular Open Meeting Guide to every municipal clerk and elected council member after the October 2022 elections, and we introduced additional guides for municipal codes of conduct and integrity commissioners this summer.
School boards and more: Our voice has been heard at the school board level as well: The government’s new education legislation makes integrity commissioners mandatory for school boards, too – something my Office has long called for. We have made further suggestions to the government to help make these new accountability officers successful, and will of course be there to help anyone who encounters issues with them in future.
I anticipate more constructive results from our newest, ongoing investigation into the plight of adults with developmental disabilities who are being inappropriately housed in hospitals.
I am also hopeful that our recommendations and submissions to the government about improving de-escalation training for police across the province will be incorporated into pending legislative changes this fall.
Stronger together
A recap of the year would not be complete without a nod to my ombudsman colleagues across Canada and around the world with whom I have the privilege and pleasure of collaborating. I am honoured to represent the growing North American ombudsman community as its Regional President on the International Ombudsman Institute’s World Board of Directors. In addition, I am proud to have served this year as President of the Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO).
The work that ombudsman offices do as democratic institutions is not solely to promote optimal public services and government administration. The Ombudsman’s role in “the promotion and protection of human rights, good governance and the rule of law” was recognized by the United Nations in a resolution in 2020. Several organizations that measure and track the quality of democracy have noted a marked deterioration over the past decade, as more democracies are declining, and some are sliding into autocracy. Even Canada’s Chief Justice has warned that the global rise in misinformation threatens national institutions and processes that underpin democracy.
Across the globe, we have seen that actions to abolish oversight, to undermine freedom of the press, weaken courts and concentrate power in the hands of the executive can undermine liberal democracy from within. While legislatures oversee a range of government functions, and courts uphold the rule of law, liberal democracy relies on the independent oversight exercised by roles like the Ombudsman, Auditor General, Electoral Officer, et al.
The role of Ombudsman in strengthening democracy by overseeing government and the public sector has been recognized, since 2019, in a unique international set of standards, referred to as the Venice Principles. They are intended to protect ombudsmen around the world who are facing threats, and emphasize that the Ombudsman is an important element in states based on democracy, the rule of law, good administration, and the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
This past June, then-Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell spoke about this in an address to my fellow CCPO members that resonated with us deeply – so much so that I have included an excerpt at the end of my Annual Report Message. I and my peers around the world and across Canada will remain vigilant and support strong, independent ombudsman institutions everywhere.
A strong foundation
Finally, I want to recognize the enormous behind-the-scenes efforts that enable the Ombudsman’s Office to have the impact that it does. This past year in particular, our Human Resources, IT and Facilities professionals have managed tremendous post-pandemic challenges, from transitioning us from fully remote to hybrid work, to executing an ambitious recruitment plan. We recently surpassed 90% of our full staffing complement of 186 for the first time since our 2016 mandate expansion, bolstering our ranks of talented Early Resolution Officers and Investigators and enabling us to serve even more Ontarians, even more efficiently. We have reorganized our executive team and are in the course of developing a strategic plan and benchmarks that I look forward to sharing in upcoming Annual Reports. We are also strategically reviewing our extensive communications and outreach efforts to ensure as many Ontarians as possible are aware of and can benefit from our fast, free and confidential services.
The 2022-2023 Annual Report is filled, as usual, with examples of exactly that – the stories of people who brought their issues to us, and how their experiences translated into better public services for others. Their stories deserve to be shared, and shared widely. They allow us to demonstrate, every day, the difference we can make.