John Stewart's BLOG
&
comments;

Opening comments:  More at the end.

Some very good comments here.

Put my name forward.

Time for municipal ombudsmen     - June 23/06.

The world needs more people like André Marin.

Marin is the Ontario Ombudsman who made headlines again yesterday when he complained about bureaucrats who are "rule slaves" and said, tellingly, that, "in far too many cases, we have seen compassion fatigue among public servants. Sometimes you need to grow a heart."

Ouch!

At his press conference, Marin called on the provincial government to expand the powers of the Ombudsman's office, to allow him to deal with the quasi-provincial bodies, the ones that receive significant Ontario tax dollars such as school boards, hospitals and municipalities.

Marin has already demonstrated the benefit that an independent advocate can achieve for the public. His work uncovered the insidious practice in which parents of children with severe disabilities were forced to make their children wards of children's aid societies or face bankruptcy trying to pay for medical treatments themselves. His investigation also forced the government to expand screening for genetic diseases in newborns.

Needless to say, no one who sits in government was ever in favour of an ombudsman. They find out things you don’t want the public to know, and then the press comes running to trumpet the news.

But Premier McGuinty should remember how he felt about the Ombudsman when he was in Opposition. He should also check in his heart of hearts (even if he has to grow one) to recognize that the Ombudsman has made better the lives of many, many vulnerable families and, quite probably, saved some lives in the process.

Not only should McGuinty grant Marin's request, he should mandate that all those quasi-provincial bodies Marin wants to be able to field complaints about, have ombudsmen too.

Better yet, those bodies should voluntarily appoint them.

One of the main problems in fighting City Hall, the school board, the hydro commission etc. is their monolithic structures.

So many people are so discouraged at the thought of bucking the Vogons that they never even try in the first place.

The potential political embarrassment factor will mean local officials resist ombudsmen with every fibre of their beings.

Despite what those politicians might think, appointing a complaints investigator is a very smart thing to do politically in the long run. Yes, you pay a price from time to time when some slip-up or stupid policy is exposed. But the value in terms of proving that you really care about providing the best service, and not just bragging about it, is inestimable.

Think of the possibility of well-respected people like Henry Stewart (former city manager and chair of the OMB), former Peel Social Services Commissioner Paul Vezina, ex-Peel Board Chair Margaret McKee or former Peel CAS Executive Director John Huether being ombudsmen.

Does any local body have the nerve to appoint someone to take a good, hard INDEPENDENT look at their problems?

P.S. Before anybody can shout "hyprocrite" I'd like to say that, yes, an ombudsman would be an excellent idea for The Mississauga News.

COMMENTS;

John,

TERRIFIC article on Ontario's Ombudsman, Andre Marin. Rather than offer comments, I'd like to share a link with your readers and have Mr. Marin "speak" here in your BLOG.

In a speech he gave at the Institute of Municipal Assessors 50th Annual Conference on June 5, 2006, Andre Marin said:

"In a healthy democratic society, someone needs to be there on behalf of John Q. Public to remind our public institutions that they are there to serve the needs of the people of this province and to operate in the public interest. From time to time, there needs to be someone who has the independence and authority to say, "What you are doing is wrong and you need to get it right."

This is oversight. Oversight is not an add-on. It is not a frill. Oversight is an essential activity, one that improves the performance of our public institutions and which diminishes the risk that citizens will become or remain frustrated with their own governments."

See Mr. Marin's focus? "diminishes the risk that citizens will become or remain frustrated with their own governments."

And so, John, we return to your article's opening sentence:

"The world needs more people like André Marin."

Yep.

The full text of Mr. Marin's speech can be found at:     http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/speech.aspx?langID=1#

Click on top file called:

"Date: June 5, 2006

Event: Institute of Municipal Assessors, 50th Annual Conference"

Best wishes, The Mississauga Muse

Posted by: The Mississauga Muse | June 26, 2006 at 08:24 AM

Would like to put name forward as the new Ombudsman for Mississauga City hall. Know all the tricks & what to do and was thinking the same thing that our politicians are drunk on their own power and surround themselves with YES women that is leading our local government to hell in a hand basket.

Posted by: Don Barber | June 23, 2006 at 08:19 PM