ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario 483 Bay Street 10Th Floor, South Tower Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C9
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ONTA RIO ONTARIO’S WATCHDOG ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario 483 Bay Street 10th Floor, South Tower Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C9 Telephone: 416-586-3300 Complaints line: 1-800-263-1830 Fax: 416-586-3485 TTY: 1-866-411-4211 Website: www.ombudsman.on.ca @Ont_Ombudsman Ontario Ombudsman OntarioOmbudsman OntOmbuds ISSN 1708-0851 ONTA RIO ONTARIO’S WATCHDOG June 2020 Hon. Ted Arnott, Speaker Legislative Assembly Province of Ontario Queen’s Park Dear Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to submit my Annual Report for the period of April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, pursuant to section 11 of the Ombudsman Act, so that you may table it before the Legislative Assembly. Sincerely, Paul Dubé Ombudsman Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario 483 Bay Street 10th Floor, South Tower Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C9 Telephone: 416-583-3300 Complaints line: 1-800-263-1830 Website: www.ombudsman.on.ca Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario • 2019-2020 Annual Report 1 2 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario • 2019-2020 Annual Report YEAR IN REVIEW • TEXT TABLE OF CONTENTS OMBUDSMAN’S MESSAGE .........................................................................................................5 2019-2020 AT A GLANCE ............................................................................................................8 ABOUT OUR OFFICE .................................................................................................................10 HOW WE WORK .........................................................................................................................................................................12 WHO WE ARE .............................................................................................................................................................................14 ABOUT THIS REPORT ................................................................................................................15 2019-2020 HIGHLIGHTS ............................................................................................................16 YEAR IN REVIEW – CASES BY TOPIC .........................................................................................18 NEW: CHILDREN & YOUTH ........................................................................................................................................................18 NEW: FRENCH LANGUAGE SERVICES ......................................................................................................................................24 LAW & ORDER ............................................................................................................................................................................30 MUNICIPALITIES ..........................................................................................................................................................................39 SOCIAL SERVICES .......................................................................................................................................................................48 MONEY & PROPERTY .................................................................................................................................................................53 EDUCATION ................................................................................................................................................................................56 HEALTH ........................................................................................................................................................................................63 TRANSPORTATION .....................................................................................................................................................................66 EMPLOYMENT ............................................................................................................................................................................69 CERTIFICATES & PERMITS ..........................................................................................................................................................71 ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................................................................................73 APPENDIX – CASE STATISTICS ..................................................................................................76 TOTAL CASES RECEIVED, FISCAL YEARS 2015-2016 – 2019-2020 .........................................................................................76 HOW CASES WERE RECEIVED, 2019-2020 ...............................................................................................................................76 DISPOSITION OF CASES, 2019-2020 ........................................................................................................................................77 CASES BY PROVINCIAL RIDING, 2019-2020 .............................................................................................................................78 TOP 10 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS BY CASE VOLUME, 2019-2020 .......................79 TOP 10 CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES BY CASE VOLUME, 2019-2020 .....................................................................................79 CASES RECEIVED FOR PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES AND SELECTED PROGRAMS, 2019-2020 .....................80 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT MUNICIPALITIES, 2019-2020 ..........................................................................................................82 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT MUNICIPAL MEETINGS, 2019-2020 ...............................................................................................85 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT SCHOOL BOARDS, 2019-2020 ......................................................................................................86 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT COLLEGES OF APPLIED ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY, 2019-2020 .................................................87 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT UNIVERSITIES, 2019-2020 ..............................................................................................................87 CASES RECEIVED ABOUT CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETIES, MAY 1, 2019 - MARCH 31, 2020 ...................................................88 FINANCIAL SUMMARY, 2019-2020 ............................................................................................................................................88 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario • 2019-2020 Annual Report 3 4 Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario • 2019-2020 Annual Report OMBUDSMAN’S MESSAGE OMBUDSMAN’S MESSAGE A year like no other As mandated by the Ombudsman Act, this report reviews the main trends and highlights of the 26,423 cases my Office handled between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020. In other words, most of the resolutions and investigations described herein took place long before the first cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in Ontario. In the final two weeks of the period covered by this report, everything changed. The Ontario government, like those across Canada and around the globe, declared a state of emergency. As of March 16, 2020, all non-essential public servants were mandated to work from home, all non-essential businesses were closed, and public health officials called on everyone to stay at home to minimize the spread of COVID-19. In accordance with the directives of public health authorities and the provincial January 13, 2020: Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé. government, the office locations of Ombudsman Ontario closed on that date. By March 31, 2020, our staff had handled almost 800 new complaints while working from home, including close to 300 Ombudsmen are premier problem-solvers. As soon as the state of related to COVID-19 alone. Many of these were from people emergency was declared, my team and I realized that the services who were worried about the effect of the state of emergency we provide to the province would be needed more than ever. We on public services, or who could not reach government officials. immediately transitioned to working from home and established Thanks to our long track record of working collaboratively procedures to continue responding to as many complaints and and proactively with public sector bodies, our staff were well inquiries as possible. positioned to provide helpful information, or to connect people Our commitment, as always, is to assist Ontarians by engaging with the right officials. with those who provide public services to them. This report Our preoccupation was to make sure that the most vulnerable illustrates the many ways we honoured that commitment, before citizens could still reach us, such as children and youth in care and during the pandemic. It demonstrates how we can help or custody – and inmates in provincial correctional facilities. improve public services – so they can be relied on in good times Although our main office phone line had to be shut down, our and bad. Children and Youth Unit continued to respond to calls from young people in care, and we set up special phone lines to Ensuring accessibility enable inmates across the province to reach our staff directly. As soon as our offices closed, we equipped our staff with the Within days of this temporary phone system becoming necessary technology to enable them to work remotely. We operational, we received a call from an inmate who feared for his used teleconferencing and videoconferencing