Speeches and Articles

Imagine you are an Ontario municipal councillor, perusing the agenda for your next meeting, and you see that a new report by the municipality’s integrity commissioner is scheduled to be discussed behind closed doors. You wonder, is that appropriate?

A recent column by Deb Hutton, published by Queen’s Park Briefing on January 18, raised provocative questions about the role and usefulness of independent officers of the Legislature.

In addressing the changes proposed by Bill 57, I will devote most of my comments to those amendments that affect the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario, and the Ombudsman Act. Most notable among these are amendments that will expand the mandate of this office into areas that are presently within the mandate of my fellow Officers of the Legislature, the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth (Child Advocate) and the French Language Services Commissioner.

The Ontario Ombudsman has a long history of independently and impartially resolving and investigating concerns about Ontario’s provincial correctional facilities. Of the more than 21,000 complaints we receive each year, close to 4,000 are about correctional facilities. In addition to resolving countless individual matters, my Office has actively monitored and, when necessary, investigated serious systemic issues within the correctional system.

Since 1974, there have been dozens of cases in which the use of force by police in Ontario – especially the use of lethal force on people in crisis – has raised profound questions about policing standards, training and accountability. As a result, there have been more than a dozen reviews and numerous recommendations for reform. Despite incremental improvements through the years, Ontario’s police oversight system has continued to attract criticism and undermine public confidence in policing. 

Ontario municipalities and its citizens are marking an important anniversary with the arrival of this new year. It has been exactly 10 years since they embarked upon what was heralded as a "new era" in municipal accountability - an era that is still evolving.

There are many communities that have for years decried a crisis of confidence in Ontario police. The province’s much-anticipated new omnibus policing legislation, packaged as the Safer Ontario Act, 2017, appears to have been met with general optimism — perhaps as much a measure of the broad need and desire for change as it is of the bill itself.

As Ontario’s ombudsman, my job is to make the government work better for you.

The role of an ombudsman is to promote accountability, transparency, and fairness in the public sector. This mandate is fulfilled by receiving citizens’ complaints about a branch of government or a public sector body, determining whether the complaint has merit, and if so, working collaboratively with stakeholders to get the problem resolved.

On May 11, 2017, Ontario Ombudsman, Paul Dubé, gave a keynote speech at the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities' 57th annual conference, in North Bay.

On April 11, 2017, Ombudsman Paul Dubé made a presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2017.

On March 23 2017, Ontario Ombudsman, Paul Dubé, presented to CAMH's Dual Diagnosis and the Forensic Mental Health System conference, in Toronto.

On January 30, General Counsel Laura Pettigrew spoke at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association annual conference in Toronto, detailing the steps and best practices for creating a complaints resolution procedure.

On October 25, 2016, Premier Kathleen Wynne spoke to delegates at the Ontario Ombudsman's annual investigative course, Sharpening Your Teeth, in Toronto.

Since 1974, police oversight in Ontario has been the subject of more than a dozen reviews, generating hundreds of recommendations for reform. In response, successive governments have introduced legislative amendments aimed at enhancing independent oversight of police. However, finding the right balance between effective policing and public accountability has proven elusive. Today, Ontario’s oversight system continues to attract criticism that threatens to undermine public confidence in policing.

On September 21 2016, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke to delegates of the Association française des municipalités de l’Ontario during their 27th Annual Meeting, in Hearst.

Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke at the Ontario East Municipal Conference in Kingston on September 14, discussing the Office's oversight of municipalities.

Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé gave the keynote address at the Summer Leadership Conference for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation in Ottawa on August 18, discussing his Office's oversight of school boards and universities.

Recently, it took just four minutes for David Orazietti, Ontario’s Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, to announce changes that will fundamentally affect law and order across the province.

On June 2, 2016, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke to delegates of the Ontario College of Teachers during their Annual Meeting, in Toronto.​

On May 12, 2016, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke to delegates at the 56th Annual Conference of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, in Timmins.

No matter what you call it – segregation, solitary confinement, isolation, or separation – the practice of confining inmates to a cell, alone, for 22 hours or more a day for prolonged periods has increasingly come under fire.

On May 6, 2016, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke to delegates at the 63rd annual Ontario Small Urban Municipalities Conference in Goderich.

On April 26, 2016, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé spoke to Ontario's municipal integrity commissioners during the organization's spring meeting in Vaughan.

On March 31, the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman hosted webinars for municipalities and school boards about what stakeholders can expect when the Ombudsman calls.

On February 25, Steve Orsini, Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Ontario Public Service, discussed the value of ombudsman oversight at a one-day forum about the expansion of the Ombudsman's oversight into municipalities and school boards.

On February 23, Acting Ombudsman Barbara Finlay discussed the value of Ombudsman oversight during the annual joint conference for the Ontario Good Roads Association and Rural Ontario Municipal Association in Toronto.

Some 40 years after the first Ontario Ombudsman called for it – and 13 months after it was formally passed into law – municipalities in this province now come under the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman’s office. For the first time, Ontarians who have complaints related to municipal government have the same recourse to the independent, impartial services of their Ombudsman as they do when they have complaints about provincial government bodies.

On January 1, 2016, citizens of Ontario will finally be able to bring their municipal complaints to their provincial Ombudsman. For readers in B.C., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon, this won’t seem like news – their ombudsmen have long had jurisdiction over municipalities, dealing with complaints about everything from misuse of public funds to bylaw changes.

Whatever label you choose – street checks, community contacts, or carding  – the practice of police officers arbitrarily stopping individuals on the street, requesting personal identification and information, and maintaining a record of the encounter for possible future use, has increasingly come under scrutiny. Some police officials maintain that street checks may help solve and prevent crime, keeping communities safe and secure. However, critics condemn the practice as unconstitutional, discriminatory (it disproportionately impacts racialized and marginalized individuals), and destructive of community relations with and confidence in police.

Forgive me for saying this on the first day of summer, but some of us are already getting ready for back-to-school season.

On May 29, 2015, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin spoke at the annual general meeting and spring conference for the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards, in Toronto. He highlighted some of his office's work on police-related investigations, and emphasized the importance for robust police services boards.

Ombudsman André Marin explained what his expanded oversight will mean for school boards at the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association business seminar on April 30. He emphasized that the Ombudsman's office should be the last resort, and that we will work with local complaint mechanisms to resolve issues.

L’Ombudsman André Marin a expliqué les répercussions de l’élargissement de sa surveillance pour les conseils scolaires, lors du colloque d’entreprises de l'Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association le 30 avril. Il a souligné que son Bureau devrait être un lieu de dernier recours et qu’il travaillera avec les mécanismes locaux de plainte pour régler les problèmes.

L’Ombudsman de l'Ontario André Marin a fait une présentation au Club Canadien de Toronto le 21 avril 2015.

Ontario Ombudsman André Marin presented to the Club Canadien Toronto on April 21, 2015.

The mood was festive at Queen’s Park when Bill 8, the MPP and Public Sector Accountability and Transparency Act was passed Dec. 9.

Prof. Erika Simpson, in the Dec. 20 Forum Public pay, public scrutiny, raises some serious issues in writing about her Western University colleague Andrew Sancton, who was aggrieved when I temporarily blocked him on Twitter.

Speech by André Marin, Ombudsman of Ontario, to the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards, Spring Conference, May 24, 2014.

Address by André Marin, Ombudsman of Ontario, at the Healthcare Leaders Innovation and Policy Forum, Catastrophic Drug Coverage – Key Recommendations, Toronto.