If I Was Fiona I Wouldn't Hold My Breath...

Public complaints system flawed: Toronto ombudsman

January 21, 2010

Paul Moloney

In one of her first moves as Toronto’s new ombudsman, Fiona Crean asked all civic departments to forward copies of their processes for handling complaints from the public.

That was last December. She’s still waiting.

“We received good procedures from some, mediocre from others and none from yet others,” Crean told reporters Thursday. “Less than half the areas submitted processes or posted them on their website. Openness and accessibility was a problem even for those who had good procedures.”

Citizens must first seek redress from the relevant civic department before approaching the Ombudsman’s office, on Elizabeth St. near city hall, but people often say the municipal public service just isn’t responsive to them, she said.

“I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘I never heard back from the city.’”

In 2009, the office received 1,057 inquiries and complaints and processed and closed 958 of them, or just over 90 per cent, she said. It is detailed in her report.

As a new office, the ombudman focused on individual complaints. In 2010, Crean wants to turn her attention to solving systemic problems.

The first order of business is ensuring the 50,000-employee government develops procedures to handle complaints and publicizes them.

Crean said she also wants to see public disclosure of the city’s standards for how fast to return calls and acknowledge correspondence. However, the departments don’t tell the public what their standards are.

“I’m asking them today to make those public so that residents know what to expect,” she said.