Public Commons

• a point-form summary of the Ombud's report for 2009, beginning April 6, the date of her appointment as the first City of Toronto Ombud.

Part of Ombudsman

In her opening message, Ombud Fiona Crean makes the following points:

- the Ombud looked first to the framework of policies, procedures and standards for her own office "so that the public knows what we do, what we don’t do, and what to expect from us."

- her job is to follow up on individual complaints, and she is committed to addressing systemic problems, because this "saves the public money, reduces frustration and enables public servants to get on with other work. It also demonstrates good governance on the part of legislators and a responsive public service."

- early in the Ombud's appointment, Ms.Crean asked individual areas at the City to tell her about how they handle complaints, and noted that,

"many areas have done so; some have not."

"Most importantly, only a few have effective, detailed systems that are shared with the public, and kept up to date"

"The Toronto Public Service has a set of Customer Service Standards but they are not widely available to the public. Publishing these standards would help the public hold the public service to account."

- She added that:"My experience has been that the public understands things go wrong. What they don’t understand is why often there are barriers to getting these wrongs righted. The number of complaints about an area is not an indicator of the quality of service it provides. How mistakes are addressed is the litmus test of good public service."

- the report describes the Ombud's three part job:

1) responding to requests for information to help residents find their way through the city bureaucracy and conducting investigations 2) "prevention" - advising city offices on their policies, processes and programs, such as looking at the area's complaints process (see above) 3) education and outreach to Council members, city staff and communities about the Ombud's roles

The report includes summaries of the 6 investigations the Ombud has undertaken. Some key issues which may be of interest re: parks are:

- addressing problems of a lack of financial and accounting information: Over several years, residents had complained that the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) rent calculations were often been wrong, but they lacked clear information about the calculations. Although the TCHC had acknowledged the problem, it said that nothing could be done until a new computer system was in place. As a result of the Ombud's investigation, the TCHC agreed to put in place an interim measure to lessen error rates and/or allow residents to more easily identify them.

- an accounting error which led to improper deductions from a single mother's benefit cheques. In response to the woman's request for an explanation, "City employees did not explain the discrepancy in a way that made sense to Ms M and declined to give her other options to pursue her complaint." As a result of the Ombud's intervention, the city made a "detailed review" and reimbursed the woman for additional funds.

- failure by a city contractor to follow the city's policies re: notice (installing a fire hydrant on a resident's lawn)

- failure by the city to abide by it's own information (re: transit tokens and reimbursement for removal of a tree branch)

- The Ombud describes her role as twofold 1)to "address administrative errors and conduct impartial investigations." and 2) "to support city government in holding the public service accountable for carrying out its directives, agenda and legal responsibilities.

- the final page gives an example of what the Ombud can do: "make recommendations, for example, to change conduct, practice or policy that uncovers improper administration."