Law Times

Law Times • June 27, 2016 Page 9 www.lawtimesnews.com New ombudsman on the scene BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times P aul Dubé is walking in the hallway of his 10 th f loor Bay Street office when an older man wear- ing a plaid shirt suddenly ap- proaches him. "Excuse me, sir, are you the ombudsman?" the man eagerly asks. "I have a case here." Dubé, who is indeed On- tario's newest watchdog, tells the man he will speak to him shortly. Since January, the ombudsman's office has been getting com- plaints about everything from welfare denial from municipal- ities to delayed snow removal. That's because Dubé is the first ombudsman in this province to have expanded powers to over- see municipalities along school boards and universities. He says it's "a dream job," and he feels everything he's previous- ly done has been preparing him for this role. Dubé's predecessor, the outspoken André Marin, publicly fought for the expanded powers the ombudsman's office now finally enjoys. But the quest to bring municipalities, school boards, and universities under the ombudsman's oversight pre- dates Marin, Dubé says. "It wasn't just important for my predecessor, it was import- ant to the Ontario ombudsman since 1975," he says, while sitting in a conference room adorned with portraits of all six of On- tario's former ombudsmen. "The first ombudsman, Ar- thur Maloney, when he opened this office in 1975 realized that he was getting a lot of complaints about municipalities," Dubé adds. "I think every ombudsman since has lobbied for the expan- sion of the jurisdiction." Since Jan. 1, when the en- actment of Bill 8 broadened the provincial watchdog's jurisdic- tion, Dubé says his office has received more than 1,500 com- plaints about municipalities. But the only official investigation he's so far launched is over procure- ment procedures in Brampton, Ont. The topic of news coverage for years, the Brampton matter is "labour intensive" with a lot of data to go through, Dubé says. "We're looking at it as a sys- temic investigation," Dubé says of the Brampton file. "At one point last year, the city council asked us to come and look at things, but it was a broad re- quest and we're not actually re- sponding to that broad request," he adds. The large scope of the review requested was "a red f lag for us . . . a trigger that maybe there may be a systemic issue there," Dubé also says. If a municipal issue that arose before Jan. 1 was still ongoing on that date, Dube's office would in- vestigate it. But there have been some concerns that the prov- incial ombudsman's expanded jurisdiction would mean muni- cipal accountability officers are no longer relevant. "Bill 8 effectively renders moot the role of municipally ap- pointed accountability officers," wrote David Potts, city solicitor for Ottawa, in a paper last year for a continuing professional education presentation. Potts in- cluded a disclaimer in his pres- entation that he was making the statements in his personal cap- acity and not as a representative of the city of Oshawa. "A municipality that might otherwise be inclined to appoint one of the various accountabil- ity officers under Part V.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001 may now be disinclined to do so in light of the provincially appointed Ombudsman's ultimate juris- diction over the subject matter of the municipality account- ability officer," Potts also said. "Double oversight with muni- cipal oversight subordinated to second place is a disincentive for municipal investment in these accountability officers." But the ombudsman says he is in fact encouraging muni- cipalities to appoint their own accountability officers so that he does not have to step in. He'd like his office to be the "last re- sort," he says. Dubé's office would also not get involved in matters that could first be ap- pealed to the Ontario Municipal Board. If a complaint is regard- ing a decision of the OMB, the ombudsman will investigate to make sure the right procedures were followed instead of scrutin- izing the substance of findings, Dubé also says. Still, with every change, there's resistance, Dubé says, adding he'd like to assure muni- cipalities that his office isn't there to "name and shame" them. With every investigation, muni- cipalities will get enough notice, an opportunity to be heard, and detailed reasons for any conclu- sions, Dubé says. "If the complaint is found to have no merit, what we're doing is validating your processes," he continues. "Either we will valid- ate your practices or we'll give you constructive feedback in a fair and balanced manner." After two five-year terms, Marin left the ombudsman's office unwillingly, and he's launched a lawsuit against the of- fice and the province for wrong- ful dismissal. Marin's blunt ap- proach during his tenure some- times rubbed people the wrong way. Near the end of his second term, the social media-savvy Marin asked his Twitter follow- ers to "make some noise" about his dismissal. Dubé's approach, early on at least, seems to be less adversarial. He says he wants the agencies under his jurisdiction to be more comfortable with the investiga- tive process. "What I like to do in those situations is . . . kind of bring down the tension and re- duce the apprehension, and ex- plain to the heads of these bodies that this can be a win-win-win situation," Dubé says. He also won't be tweeting regularly from the ombudsman office's Twitter account. "This office is not about me; this is not a one-man show," he says. Mary Flynn-Guglietti, mu- nicipal lawyer at McMillan LLP, says the ombudsman's new pow- ers over municipalities "puts the light of day on things that are not easily accessible. "The whole idea of what he's supposed to be doing is he's supposed to go and look at things nobody else is looking at," she adds. Flynn-Guglietti says she does worry, however, about the om- budsman's office getting over- whelmed with complaints as a result of these new powers. "I just don't know how many more complaints they're going to get. How big is this office going to get?" she says. Dubé says his office of 87 staff is getting an additional 57 heads as a result of his expanded jurisdiction. The office, he says, hires quite a number of lawyers who can assist in early resolu- tion of matters. The ombudsman's office can compel staff at agencies to co- operate with its investigation. Dubé says he expects that co-op- eration even before a formal no- tice of investigation is sent out. "We think that our act is clear in that regard that everybody we oversee has an obligation to co- operate," he says. "If we need it, we have powers to compel the production of documents. But, you know, really, this is a col- laborative process. This is not an adversarial approach." There's also "no template" as to which city staff may be called upon to speak when the om- budsman is investigating a mat- ter, according to Dubé. The first taxpayer's ombuds- man, Dubé, who hails from New Brunswick, worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Dalhousie be- fore moving on to jobs in legal aid and the federal government. His career has largely centred around working with people with economic disadvantages. He says coming from a small town and watching his father, who is also a lawyer, help farm- ers and lumberjacks, sometimes with no pay, motivated him to work with vulnerable clients. "He [my father] said, 'I've been fortunate in life and I have a duty to pay it forward.' So that was ingrained in me at a young age," he says, adding the empha- sis on access to justice at the Uni- versity of Windsor's law school also shaped his career. When he articled at Ogilvy Renault, Dubé says he learned that a life in big law didn't stimulate him. "I didn't feel like I was making that big a difference," he says, adding the ombudsman's office keeps him on the path of helping people without the litigation. "This is just a fantastic, fan- tastic opportunity to be an agent of positive change for everybody in Ontario," he says. LT FOCUS The whole idea of what he's supposed to be doing is he's supposed to go and look at things nobody else is looking at. Mary Flynn-Guglietti This is more than a phone book. It is your instant connection to Canada's legal network. With Canadian Law List 2016 you have access to: • an up-to-date alphabetical listing of more than 80,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law fi rms and judges across Canada • all contact information supplied for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown Corporations • legal and government contact information related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid and other important law-related offi ces THE LATEST CONTACT INFORMATION IN A USER-FRIENDLY FORMAT THAT IS BEYOND TRADITIONAL LISTINGS Continually updated by a dedicated team of professionals, Canadian Law List includes value added features such as: • last name fi rst identifi cation in the federal and provincial listings • separate section of corporate law departments for more than 1,250 companies • professional cards of prominent Canadian law fi rms • International Agency Referral Cards AREAS OF PRACTICE AND ENHANCED LISTING INDEX The enhanced listing index is displayed in bold type with detailed practice information. It also: • lists fi rms and lawyers that have expanded their practice information in their provincial listing • is organized by areas of practice by province, city and page reference in their provincial listings Hardbound • Published February each year • L88804-765 • On subscription $169* • One time purchase $188* Multiple copy discounts available * Plus shipping/handling and applicable taxes ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY! Call 1.800.387.5164 or visit www.carswell.com KEEPING PACE WITH THE CHANGING LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR OVER 130 YEARS Untitled-3 1 2016-06-21 9:52 AM Paul Dubé is the first ombudsman in Ontario with expanded powers to oversee municipalities along school boards and universities.

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