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Ombudsman scored direct hits O Marin made headlines on the tough issues BY JEFFREY H. WAUGH ntario Ombudsman André Marin made more than a couple of head- lines this year, including his criticism of Legal Aid Ontario and a searing report on the province's Special Investigations Unit. Marin's first major appearance came after the murder case of former Toronto police officer Richard Wills. Legal Aid Ontario was put in charge of managing the offi- cer's legal defence fund, which came via a judge's funding order from the Ministry of the Attorney General. The final bill came in at over $1 million. Marin was quick to point the finger at LAO for the mismanagement of funds, saying it had "completely abdicated" its duty to keep an eye on costs in the case. "I think Wills showed us how easy it is to be a judicial hacker," said Marin, after releas- ing his report on the handling of the case. "What happened here was a combination of his manipulativeness meeting the compla- cency and resentfulness of legal aid." Marin was also quick to criticize the gov- ernment protocol that had been in place, saying only a legislative change would suffice. The protocol had been implemented the pre- vious December, aimed at preventing future incidents of legal aid mismanagement. "The protocol is an expression of wishes between the AG and legal aid, which is nice," Marin told Law Times in early March. "But it's like a Hallmark card, where people all co- sign the inside expressing wishes, but it's not a legally binding document, and all it takes is a change in leadership at legal aid for a new management style to come in and say, 'Well, this protocol doesn't respect the legislation; we're not going to apply it.' "To me, it's a real affront to the function as the guardian of public trust and public funds," he said. Marin was especially disappointed by the ministry's disposition towards the misman- agement of funds. "There has been a feeling that, ah well, this is a one-off case, and, you know, the protocol will deal with it." He said implementation of the proto- col showed there was a problem, but it still wasn't being properly dealt with. "The logic is not there, because if you agree that there is this systemic issue and it requires a protocol to fix it, then it's an issue that needs to be properly fixed," he said. Marin hit the news again in October after handing down his 121-page report on the province's Special Investigations Unit, which contained 45 recommendations for improv- ing the unit. "The SIU is the ultimate tool of account- ability for the police and the police have to have the confidence of the public to operate," said Marin. "Right now, the report revealed, the SIU has been somewhat two-faced about its operations." The primary reasons for his recommen- dations were that the unit was too slow in completing its work, failed to completely follow through on investigating allega- tions, lacked the ability to force police co-operation, and employed too many ex- police officers, something he said presented "significant challenges to maintaining the perception of independence." Marin referred to the police oversight body as a "toothless tiger." Marin was also very critical of the rela- tionship between the office of the attorney general and the SIU. "The AG's office has been way too cozy with 'What happened here was a combination of his manipulativeness meeting the complacency and resentfulness of legal aid,' said André Marin after his report on Toronto cop Richard Wills and Legal Aid Ontario. the SIU," he says. "It has not allowed it to flourish, has not provided sufficient support to its independence, from the beginning has been micromanaging the SIU. That hasn't allowed the SIU to do its job." A new director for the SIU was appointed only one week before Marin's report was released. Ian Scott, who took over from out- going director James Cornish, quickly put together a team to respond to Marin's rec- ommendations. "Some are actually relatively easy to address. Some are going to require more long-term operational change, and it may be that at the end of the six months some of the reporting on particular recom- mendations will be a work-in-progress," Scott told Law Times. At year end, the team was still working on preparing its written implementation report, which is due back to the ombuds- man's office by the end of March. Marin's term as Ontario's watchdog for accountability continues into 2010, and he'll likely continue to make headlines in Ontario's legal scene. newsmakers Telephone or Fax (416) 930-1370 (905) 731-5812 evlitigation@rogers.com EVlitigation_LT-Spplmnt_Dec15_08.indd 1 2008 top news & newsmakers 5 11/27/08 4:20:34 PM