tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37417991.post974400308021444489..comments2024-03-28T07:05:37.369-07:00Comments on The Ombuds Blog: Will the Ontario Ombudsman's New Powers Impact University Ombuds?Tom Kosakowskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14264466024238046628noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37417991.post-9766265204955550422014-12-16T15:19:04.122-08:002014-12-16T15:19:04.122-08:00Linda-
Thanks for your clarifying comments. Best ...Linda-<br />Thanks for your clarifying comments. Best wishes for the holidays.<br />-TomTom Kosakowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14264466024238046628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37417991.post-58010244971544691972014-12-16T12:34:16.408-08:002014-12-16T12:34:16.408-08:00Thanks for sharing the news about the historic pas...Thanks for sharing the news about the historic passage of Bill 8 in Ontario with your readers. As you noted, it will extend the Ontario Ombudsman’s oversight to municipalities, universities and school boards once it comes into force. We’d be happy to answer any questions about it, including the title of your post, “how will it impact university ombuds?” <br /><br />In the interest of accuracy, we’d like to point out a few things. Various Ombudsmen of Ontario have called for oversight of universities and other parts of the broader public sector since the establishment of the office in 1975. Two other provincial ombudsmen (British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador) have had oversight of universities for years. In Ontario, we have helped hundreds of people with complaints about colleges of applied arts and science (formerly known as “community colleges”); we have never before had the mandate to deal with complaints about Ontario’s 22 public universities.<br /><br />As we have always done, we will work with existing accountability mechanisms and refer complaints to them for resolution where appropriate. We welcome the chance to work with existing university ombudsmen across the province, as well as the opportunity to assist university students and staff with broader systemic issues.<br /><br />Details about when the legislation will take effect have not been determined, but anyone with questions is welcome to contact our office or consult the information we have posted at www.ombudsman.on.ca<br />-Linda Williamson, Director of Communications, Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario<br />Ombudsman Ontariohttp://www.ombudsman.on.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37417991.post-19214802606763455452014-12-12T08:56:39.866-08:002014-12-12T08:56:39.866-08:00Community Colleges in Ontario have fallen under th...Community Colleges in Ontario have fallen under the mandate of the provincial government since the inception of the office. Colleges were established differently than universities (each with their own founding legislation). I used to work as an Ombuds in a community college. It was my experience that the provincial ombudsman would refer cases to my office, and would only investigate a compliant if the complainant was unsuccessful in resolving the issue. This is consistent with the provincial Ombudsman being an office of last resort. Having the provincial Ombudsman able to deal with issues that occur in multiple institutions does open an interesting possibility of investigating larger systemic issues. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com