Ontario NDP Renews Call For Ombudsman Oversight After Damming Annual Report

A Submission from the office of health critic for the Ontario New Democratic Party, France Gelinas

(A brief foreword from Niagara At Large – We are losing count at NAL of how many times Ontario’s Ombudman Andre Marin, an independent watchdog for the province’s taxpayers, has urged the government to give his office some powers to look into the affairs of hospital and health boards, schools, universities and municipalities.

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin

In the case of hospitals alone, Niagara, Ontario residents may have had this watchdog office look into the affairs of the former Niagara Health System CEO Debbie Sevenpifer and her wrecking crew of a board, had the ombudsman the legal powers to do so before decisions were made to build a major new hospital for Niagara in the north end of the region, in west St. Catharines, and shut down services in other Niagara hospitals.

So this is no small issue and it is high time that Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne does what her predecessor Dalton McGuinty failed or refused to do and give the Ombudsman’s office these powers. You should contact your MPP and urge them to make sure this is done.)

Sudbury, Ontario – NDP MPP France Gélinas renewed New Democrats call for Ombudsman oversight after Andre Marin once again sounded alarm bells about his lack of power to respond to thousands of citizen complaints about hospitals, schools, universities and municipalities.

“Yet again we see a Liberal government failing to protect Ontarians.  Refusing to give the Ombudsman the powers to investigate thousands of complaints, leaves Ontarians in vulnerable situations,” said NDP Health Critic France Gélinas. “Ontario is the only province in Canada that does not grant Ombudsman oversight of hospitals, long-term care facilities and child protection services.“

The Ombudsman’s annual report released today also documents the many issues that he has previously raised which the government has failed to take action on.

“Ignoring the desperate need to grant Ombudsman oversight of health care facilities while also failing to act on promises already made—shows us the Liberals are more interested in themselves than doing the right thing and protecting Ontarians,” said Gélinas.

Yesterday, Ontario’s Chief Coroner released a report on eight deaths linked with operational issues at Ornge.

“We know that since 2005, the Ombudsman has received complaints about operational issues at Ornge, included 12 last year. We will never know whether granting his office the ability to look at these issues could have prevented those deaths, “stated Gélinas.
Three years after the G20, the Liberal government has not yet moved to replace the outdated Public Works Protection Act. Two years after promising speedy action on regulating the non-emergency medical transportation industry, nothing has been done.
“Enough is enough. We see a government that is dragging its feet and refusing to deal with these life and death issues. When over 2,500 complaints are ignored because the Liberal government refuses to grant the Ombudsman the necessary oversight, we know that something is wrong,” Gélinas.

 Read Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin’s full report by clicking on http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Newsroom/Press-Release/2013/Ombudsman-urges-province-to-tackle–unfinished-bus.aspx .

Also click on this 2011 Niagara At Large post for more information on Marin’s call for more oversight over hospital boards and health care in Ontario – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2011/06/28/give-me-the-power-to-help-on-health-care/ .

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