2. CREATION
OF AN OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSPERSON CRÉATION D’UN BUREAU DE L’OMBUDSMAN |
That
Council approve:
WHEREAS the Accessibility Advisory Committee has recommended that
“Council institute an office of the Ombudsperson” position;
AND WHEREAS Bill 130, the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act,
is currently being reviewed by the Standing Committee on General Government;
AND WHEREAS it is anticipated that Bill 130 may receive Third Reading
sometime later this fall and be implemented early in the next term of Council;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s
above-noted recommendation be considered by the new City Council in the manner
described in the staff report for Bill 130 [p. 37, Staff Recommendation no. 5].
Que le Conseil approuve :
ATTTENDU QUE le Comité consultatif sur l'accessibilité a recommandé que
« le Conseil procède à la création d’un bureau de l’ombudsman »;
ATTENDU QUE le projet de loi 130, Loi modifiant des lois
concernant les municipalités, est présentement examiné par le comité
permanent sur les affaires gouvernementales;
ATTENDU QUE le projet de loi 130 est susceptible d’être adopté en
troisième lecture plus tard cet automne, puis appliqué dès le début du prochain
mandat du Conseil;
PAR CONSÉQUENT, IL EST RÉSOLU QUE la recommandation précitée du Comité
consultatif sur l’accessibilité soit examinée par le nouveau conseil municipal,
telle qu’elle est décrite dans le rapport du personnel portant sur le projet de
loi 130 [p. 37, recommandation du personnel no 5].
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Chair, Accessibility
Advisory Committee’s report dated 17 October 2006
(ACS2006-CCV-AAC-0002).
2.
Extract of Draft Minute, 17 October 2006.
Report to/Rapport au:
Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee
and Council / et au Conseil
October 17 2006 / le 17 octobre 2006
Submitted
by/Soumis par: Chair, Accessibility Advisory Committee
Président, Comité consultatif sur l’accessibilité
Contact Person/Personne-ressource: Carole Langford,
Advisory Committee Coordinator/Coordonnatrice de
comités consultatifs
Corporate Services Department/Services généraux
(613) 580-2424 x28934, Carole.Langford@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT: |
CREATION
OF AN OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSPERSON |
OBJET: |
CRÉATION D’UN BUREAU
DE L’OMBUDSMAN |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Accessibility
Advisory Committee recommend that the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council institute an office of the
Ombudsperson.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité consultatif sur l’accessibilité
recommande au Comité des services organisationnels et du développement
économique d’enjoindre le Conseil municipal de procéder à la création d’un
bureau de l’ombudsman.
BACKGROUND
The
mandate of the Accessibility Advisory Committee is to develop an awareness and
understanding of issues and concerns of the citizens of the City of Ottawa with
disabilities, with a goal to improving the quality of life for those with
disabilities.
The
Accessibility Advisory Committee held a meeting on 21 June 2006 and approved
the following motion:
WHEREAS the City of
Ottawa, in its 20/20 vision document is committed to creating an inclusive and
caring society,
WHEREAS provincial
legislation (AODA) requires the identification, removal and prevention of
barriers experienced by persons with disabilities,
AND WHEREAS Ottawa residents
and visitors currently experience barriers to their full participation in civic
life,
AND WHEREAS residents and
visitors regularly experience barriers when attempting to access City of Ottawa
services and programs,
AND WHEREAS Ottawa residents
are often referred to advisory committees by councillors and City staff for
assistance with individual complaints of municipal exclusion,
AND WHEREAS the number of
individual complaints of exclusion and non-access are negatively impacting on
the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s ability to carry out its primary mandate
of advising Council on matters of accessibility,
AND WHEREAS Ottawa residents
are expressing frustration at not knowing where to go for assistance or support
when experiencing barriers to their civic participation,
AND WHEREAS Ottawa residents
concerns regarding exclusion require attention and correction,
AND WHEREAS neither the
Accessibility Advisory Committee nor the office of the Corporate Accessibility
Specialist are mandated or resourced to receive individual complaints or to
provide the required investigation, individual advocacy or medial negotiations
for a satisfactory conclusion,
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Ottawa, City Council institute an
office of the Ombudsperson. The role of
the Office would be to provide an avenue to members of the public for
complaints of exclusion, as well as a resource for building and implementing
solutions to the satisfaction of parties involved. The office of the Ombudsperson would be a publicly accountable
body which has the authority to ensure issues are addressed.
DISCUSSION
The Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) hears from individuals at
its monthly meetings on complaints with respect to accessibility issues. The AAC’s mandate does not include dealing
with individual complaints, however, Councillors and Departments receive
requests and refer these individuals to this Committee for assistance as there
is no where else to go. The Corporate
Accessibility Specialist also receives many requests and complaints in her
office.
AAC has in the past, and continues to refer certain individuals to
departments that could assist them, however, the time required to deal with
these situations reduces the Committee’s ability to effectively work on general
issues. It is also an expectation with
the public that the Committee will assist them. For these reasons, the City
should have an ombudsperson that the public can go to sort out these issues.
The Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee also has this issue as an
initiative in its 2006 workplan.
Staff recognizes
the public often has difficulty knowing how to access the right person when
they want to lodge a complaint, and that this problem can exacerbate when the
complaint is about the accessibility of services itself. The City’s new
3-1-1 service is designed to solve such problems, and 3-1-1 agents are
available to take complaints or direct staff to the appropriate resources. This
service is also accessible by TTY at 613-580-2401 and e-mail at 311@ottawa.ca.
Complaints
received through 3-1-1 are forwarded to the appropriate department for
action.
To ensure members
of the public know that accessibility complaints should be directed through
3-1-1, it might be necessary to widely communicate this point of contact for
receiving accessibility complaints. A communication strategy could be developed
to encourage the public to use this service when they have a concern related to
accessibility.
The creation of
an office of the Ombudsperson is addressed in Bill 130, the Municipal
Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006, which was introduced into the Ontario
Legislature on June 15, 2006. Under Section
223.13 of this omnibus bill, a municipality would have the discretion to
appoint an ombudsman who would report to Council and whose function would be
“to investigate any decision or recommendation made or act done or omitted in
the course of the administration of the municipality, its local boards, or
municipally-controlled corporations”. The statutory powers conferred upon the
ombudsman shall be exercised to the effect that any decision, recommendation,
act or omission is final. Furthermore, the bill notes that the ombudsman may not investigate any
decision, recommendation, act, or omission for which a right of appeal or
objection has not yet been exercised, or of any person acting as legal advisor
to the municipality, its local boards or a municipally-controlled corporation.
It
is anticipated that City Council will be receiving a staff report on Bill 130
and its amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 sometime in October at
which time Council may wish to address the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s
motion regarding the establishment of an ombudsperson position.
It
is staff’s recommendation that 3-1-1 continue to be the first point of contact
for accessibility complaints and the current process of managing the complaints
through individual Departments be continued.
FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
Financial implications associated with the creation and ongoing operations of an Office of the Ombudsperson are undetermined at this time. Requirements for the Office could be developed, if appropriate, following the report on Bill 130 and following the development of the City of Ottawa Municipal Accessibility Plan (COMAP) 2007 which will be considered by Council in early 2007.
The Office of the
Chief Corporate Services Officer will undertake the appropriate action
following Committee and Council consideration of the Motion.
Creation of aN OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSPERSON
CRÉATION D’UN BUREAU DE L’OMBUDSMAN
Councillor Cullen
noted staff had provided him with a motion that he believed was consistent with
the motion from the Accessibility Advisory Committee but marries it with the
recommendations for Bill 130 (i.e. Item 6 on the Agenda), which would give the
City the authority to establish the position of an ombudsperson.
Moved by Councillor A. Cullen
WHEREAS the Accessibility Advisory Committee has recommended that
“Council institute an office of the Ombudsperson” position;
AND WHEREAS Bill 130, the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act,
is currently being reviewed by the Standing Committee on General Government;
AND WHEREAS it is anticipated that Bill 130 may receive Third Reading
sometime later this fall and be implemented early in the next term of Council;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s
above-noted recommendation be considered by the new City Council in the manner
described in the staff report for Bill 130 [p. 37, Staff Recommendation no. 5].
CARRIED as amended