Kim Carter, Ombudsperson (Photo supplied)
The office of the B.C. Ombudsperson will be setting up shop in Osoyoos for one day on Monday, Sept. 29, to hear complaints from local residents.
The B.C. Ombudsperson Office can investigate complaints about all provincial ministries and boards, Crown corporations, colleges and universities, schools and boards of education, health authorities, local governments and self-governing professions.
Ombudsperson Kim Carter said she would be travelling with two intake staff members when the office comes to Osoyoos.
She will meet with organizations to discuss the role of her office while her staff will meet individuals to discuss their concerns.
Although the Ombudsperson Office has travelled to other parts of the province, this is the first time in about five years that it has come to Osoyoos, said Carter.
Her tour will also visit Grand Forks, Trail, Castlegar, Nelson and Creston.
Local residents who are unable to get an appointment in Osoyoos may travel to one of those communities or they may deal with the office by phone rather than in person.
Carter said there are several reasons her office tours the province.
“I have found in both my current position as Ombudsperson, and in my former life when I was working as a member of the Canadian Forces, that sometimes you need to get outside of the headquarters area to find out really what people are concerned about,” said Carter, who is normally based in Victoria.
As well, she said, some people prefer a face-to-face meeting.
Some appointments only take about 15 minutes, but Carter said on average they are about half an hour. The two intake staff can meet with about 20 to 25 complainants in a day at the travelling office, she said.
Most of the complaints her office handles are individual situations, she said.
“They are real people with real problems,” she said, adding it might be a person seeking something from the government where they don’t think they’ve been fairly treated.
Some complainants may be advocating on behalf of senior parents or they may be parents raising a school board issue on behalf of their children.
“We have a very wide jurisdiction,” said Carter. “We have the provincial ministries, but we also have provincial boards and commissions like WorkSafeBC, Crown corporations like BC Hydro, local governments as well as health authorities, school boards and a number of other public agencies.”
The Ombudsperson’s website also contains a list of types of organizations that it cannot investigate. These are mostly ones under federal government jurisdiction, private corporations, the courts or the police.
In addition to investigating individual complaints, the Ombudsperson Office also launches more general systemic investigations, Carter said.
These may come as a result of receiving a number of individual complaints that point to a trend.
Topics of such investigations have included lottery prize payouts, disability support, environmental regulations, drinking water safety and seniors’ care.
“I like to say when people come to see us with their individual problem, they never know how much of an improvement they’re going to make to the system,” said Carter. “It may be that in resolving their issue we identify a policy that needs to be changed or it may even contribute to doing a broad systemic investigation in a public report.”
Some people seeing the Ombudsperson staff may have already attempted to address the issue through their MLA, she said, and some are even referred by their MLA’s office.
“I think probably our approaches are a little different because our focus is on administrative fairness,” she said. “Sometimes if somebody thinks there ought to be a new law or regulation, then we’re going to refer them to the MLA’s office for that kind of broader policy issue as opposed to an administrative fairness that has affected them.”
For more information about the Ombudsperson Office, visit www.bcombudsperson.ca.
Individuals wishing to meet with Ombudsperson staff in Osoyoos need to book an appointment in advance by calling 1-800-567-3247.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
