Walking to work one day, a man noticed English-only signs about the upcoming construction of Corktown Station in Toronto for the future Ontario Line. We raised his complaint with Metrolinx, which is in charge of this project, and they told us that the staff members who designed these temporary …
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Walking to work one day, a man noticed English-only signs about the upcoming construction of Corktown Station in Toronto for the future Ontario Line.
Substantial improvement
A Francophone member of the military contacted us about a regulation in the Environmental Protection Act that he needed for work, but was not available in French. He told us that the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks requires an exam before working with certain substances. The …
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A Francophone member of the military contacted us about a regulation in the Environmental Protection Act that he needed for work, but was not available in French.
No room for failure
Two Francophone students from Northern Ontario reached out to us with concerns about the quality of the French version of the accreditation exam for emergency medical care assistants. According to the students, the French version of the exam contained grammatical and contextual mistakes that …
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Two Francophone students from Northern Ontario reached out to us with concerns about the quality of the French version of the accreditation exam for emergency medical care assistants.
A Place for French?
A Franco-Torontonian reached out to let us know that content on Infrastructure Ontario’s X account (@InfraOntario) about plans for an upcoming spa, water park and multi-storey parking garage at Ontario Place was only available in English. He looked to see whether the posts were available in French …
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A Franco-Torontonian reached out to let us know that content on Infrastructure Ontario’s X account (@InfraOntario) about plans for an upcoming spa, water park and multi-storey parking garage at Ontario Place was only available in English.
Bet on bilingual
A Francophone reached out to us because he was unable to find French versions of posts on the social media accounts of Lotto Max (Facebook, Instagram and X). The posts were only available in English. We raised this with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), which told us that Lotto Max …
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A Francophone reached out to us because he was unable to find French versions of posts on the social media accounts of Lotto Max (Facebook, Instagram and X).
Everything at the ready
A Francophone filed a complaint about an announcement of a public consultation on the reform of housing industry regulations posted to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery’s French LinkedIn page. The post was written in French, but four of the five attached informational documents …
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A Francophone filed a complaint about an announcement of a public consultation on the reform of housing industry regulations posted to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery’s French LinkedIn page.
Our voices matter too
A Francophone municipal employee in Eastern Ontario was invited to take part in an English-only survey on the quality of municipal and provincial emergency management programs. The goal of the survey was to collect information about the effectiveness of compliance review and quality assessment …
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A Francophone municipal employee in Eastern Ontario was invited to take part in an English-only survey on the quality of municipal and provincial emergency management programs.
2022-2023 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario
O N TA R I O ’ S WATC H D O G • C H I E N D E G A R D E D E L’ O N TA R I O Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario 2022-2023 O F F I C E O F T H E O M B U D S M A N O F O N T A R I O C H I E N D E G A R D E D E L’ O N TA R I O O N T A R I O Office of the Ombudsman of …
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Commissioner's Message - Tangible results: I am pleased to present the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario. The Commissioner plays an important role in supporting Ontario’s Francophone community, and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the French Language Services Act and recommending ways to improve the delivery of government services in French.
Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation regarding training for peace officers and use of force by police services
Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation regarding training for peace officers and use of force by police services Paul Dubé Ombudsman of Ontario October 2023 1 Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General regarding training and use of force October 2023 Overview …
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The Ministry of the Solicitor General has requested public and stakeholder input on various proposed regulations made under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019.
Added grief
A woman whose common-law spouse had died while they were living in a homeless shelter complained to us that the Chief Coroner’s Office had buried him even though she had requested to claim the body. When we spoke to the Coroner’s Office, we were told that the woman hadn’t taken the appropriate …
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A woman whose common-law spouse had died while they were living in a homeless shelter complained to us that the Chief Coroner’s Office had buried him even though she had requested to claim the body.
Issues overlooked
An inmate told us a correctional officer threw him to the ground and started punching and kneeing him – leaving the inmate with swollen arms and a broken hand. We confirmed that the inmate had received medical treatment, including medication and multiple x-rays. However, we discovered that although …
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An inmate told us a correctional officer threw him to the ground and started punching and kneeing him – leaving the inmate with swollen arms and a broken hand.
Dangerously close
An inmate sought our help because he was housed on the same range with another inmate who was facing charges for stabbing him – and, he told us, was now extorting him for access to the canteen, food and phone calls. We alerted senior staff at the facility, and the two inmates were separated shortly …
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An inmate sought our help because he was housed on the same range with another inmate who was facing charges for stabbing him – and, he told us, was now extorting him for access to the canteen, food and phone calls.
Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation regarding equipment and use of force by police services
Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation regarding equipment and use of force by police services Paul Dubé Ombudsman of Ontario October 2022 1 Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General regarding equipment and use of force by police services October 2022 Overview …
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The Ministry of the Solicitor General has requested public and stakeholder input on proposed amendments to Ontario Regulation 926/90 concerning equipment and the use of force by police services.
Submission in response to the Ministry’s consultation on proposed changes to Regulation 778
Submission in response to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation on proposed changes to Regulation 778 Paul Dubé Ombudsman of Ontario May 2021 2 Submission on Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation on Regulation 778 May 2021 Introduction 1 Thank you for the opportunity to …
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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s proposed amendments to Regulation 778 related to segregation, inmate discipline and misconduct, and mandatory training for correctional officers.
Submission in response to the Ministry’s consultation on proposed changes to Regulation 778, regarding segregation reviews
“Ensuring Truly Independent Segregation Reviews” Submission in response to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation on proposed changes to Regulation 778, regarding segregation reviews Paul Dubé Ombudsman of Ontario September 23, 2019 3 “Ensuring Truly Independent Segregation Reviews” …
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My team and I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s three proposed changes to Ontario Regulation 778.
Submission regarding proposed regulations for special constables
Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s consultation regarding proposed regulations for special constables Paul Dubé Ombudsman of Ontario February 2023 Submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General regarding special constables February 2023 1 Overview The Ministry of the …
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The Ministry of the Solicitor General has requested public and stakeholder input on four proposed regulations under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 regarding special constables.
Translation audit-y
A man noticed a post in French on the Office of the Auditor General’s Twitter account, announcing the release of its annual report on the environment. A click on the hyperlink took him to the Auditor General’s website, and he noticed that only the executive summary of the report was posted on the …
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A man noticed a post in French on the Office of the Auditor General’s Twitter account, announcing the release of its annual report on the environment.
Language integrity
A man saw a post in French on Twitter from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario, indicating that the latest report from the Integrity Commissioner was available, with a link to the report “Re: The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board.” This link took him to …
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A man saw a post in French on Twitter from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario, indicating that the latest report from the Integrity Commissioner was available, with a link to the report “Re: The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board.”
Equivalent access to information
A woman seeking a review as part of her work visited the website of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC). While browsing the site, she noticed that its URL was in English. She also noticed translation omissions. For example, the URL for the contacts page read “Contact us” even though the …
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A woman seeking a review as part of her work visited the website of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC).
“Please speak in English”
A man shared with us his family’s experience after their dying mother was admitted to a designated hospital in Northern Ontario. On several occasions, he and his family were unable to obtain services in French when visiting their mother. They noticed that their mother received very few services in …
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A man shared with us his family’s experience after their dying mother was admitted to a designated hospital in Northern Ontario.