Hydro One leads most complained-about government agencies, Ontario ombud says

Thestar.com
July 28, 2015
By Rob Ferguson

Complaints about the government and its agencies have almost doubled in the last five years, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin says in what could be his final annual report.

Marin said Tuesday he expects more concerns to roll in as his office begins taking complaints about school boards on Sept. 1, followed by municipalities and universities in January, under legislation passed earlier this year.

Aside from jails, Marin’s latest report singled out the top five most-complained-about government organizations, with Hydro One leading the list for an overbilling scandal.

It is followed by the Family Responsibility Office, which handles support cheques from divorced spouses, the Ontario Disability Support Program, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and the branch of government responsible for private career colleges.

At jails, complaints about segregation of prisoners and inmate health and safety jumped 54 per cent over last year, Marin said, including one by a man denied medication for wisdom tooth pain and another whose cancer-related colonoscopy was “unfairly delayed.”

Aside from an 86 per cent increase in overall complaints since 2010, the ombudsman’s office has turned away more than 24,000 beefs since 2005 about municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals - also known as the MUSH sector - that it did not have the legislative powers to handle.

“Clearly, public demand indicates that oversight of this sector cannot come soon enough,” he said in a statement.

“After 10 years of documenting the thousands of MUSH complaints we were forced to turn away, it is gratifying to know that we will soon be in a position to help.”

Ironically, Marin may not be around to do the work after years of lobbying for an expanded scope of powers.

The Liberal government, of which he had been extremely critical during his first two five-year terms on issues from medical care to an overbilling scandal at Hydro One, has decided to open up the $226,930-a-year post to all comers.

Marin reapplied for the job, with a final decision to be made soon by an all-party legislative committee that has been going through resumes from 60 applicants, including Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean.

Politicians left Marin on pins and needles for weeks last spring before unanimously agreeing to a temporary extension until Sept. 14, just hours prior to the expiration of his contract on a Friday in late May.

The outspoken Marin had gone on Twitter to appeal for support in hopes of pushing the government into the extension, ruffling some feathers at Queen’s Park.