The Ombudsman is an Officer of the Legislature.

The Ombudsman is appointed on the recommendation of an all-party committee of the Legislature for a term of six years. The Ombudsman may be re-appointed for a second six-year term.

The Ombudsman is impartial and independent of government.

The Ombudsman's responsibility is to investigate complaints from anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly by the provincial government or a municipal government including the City of Winnipeg.

The complaint must relate to a matter of administration.

The Ombudsman provides a thorough, impartial, independent, non-partisan investigation of complaints to enhance fairness and accountability in government administration.

The Ombudsman has the power to investigate, make recommendations and report publicly.

The Ombudsman provides parties to a dispute with an opportunity to be heard, listens and treats individuals fairly with dignity, respect and courtesy.

 

Any person who feels unfairly treated by departments or agencies of the provincial or municipal governments may contact the Ombudsman.

One should first try to solve the problem with the department or agency involved to allow the department or agency the opportunity to resolve the problem. One should enquire as to the availability of any internal avenues of appeal.

It is expected that one would utilize any appeal procedures available before contacting the Ombudsman. If one feels it is unreasonable to utilize the appeal procedure the Ombudsman may be contacted.

By law, complaints to the Ombudsman are to be in writing. However, an Intake Officer is available to speak with people to discuss their problem and to determine if it is something that the Ombudsman can investigate. The Intake Officer may assist individuals who have difficulty in putting their complaint in writing.

 

If you telephone our office, you will speak to an Intake Officer who will discuss your complaint and ask what steps you have taken to try and solve it yourself.

You will be asked to explain why you think the decision or action is unfair, whether you have appealed the decision, and the result of any appeal or internal review.

If it is determined that the complaint is within jurisdiction, you will be asked to put your complaint in writing. The Intake Officer may assist in putting your complaint in writing.

If it is not a complaint that the Ombudsman can look into we will try to refer you to the right resource.

When you write to the Ombudsman, your complaint is assigned to an Investigator who will contact you to let you know the complaint has been received.

On receipt of your complaint, if it is within jurisdiction, an investigation will be initiated. Normally the government department, agency, or municipality involved is contacted and asked to respond to the complaint.

With broad powers of investigation the Ombudsman is authorized to make enquiries, ask questions, conduct interviews and review files, documentation, policies and legislation to gather information and come to a finding on the validity of a complaint.

If the Ombudsman feels your complaint is supported, the matter will be discussed with the department or municipality involved to seek a resolution.

If it is not resolved informally, the Ombudsman may report on the investigation and his findings and make a recommendation to the Minister of the provincial government department involved, or to the head of Council of the municipality.

The Ombudsman cannot order that any act, decision, recommendation or omission be varied or changed. If a recommendation by the Ombudsman is not accepted the Ombudsman may make a report to the Legislative Assembly or make a public report.

You and the government will be advised of the results of the investigation.

There is no charge for the services of our office.

 

The Ombudsman is not authorized to investigate complaints relating to:

• court decisions
• decisions of Cabinet
• decisions or omissions of judges, magistrates, referees, masters, or justices of the peace
• any award or decision recommendation or omission of an arbitrator or board or arbitrators in an arbitration to which The Arbitration Act applies
• any resolution or by-law of a council of a policy nature
• decisions of the Federal Government
• private businesses
• private matters or disputes
• private lawyers
• doctors

 

The Ombudsman may refuse to investigate a complaint if:

• it is more than a year old
• there is still an avenue of appeal or review available to you
• if the circumstances of the case do not warrant investigation
• if it is not in the public interest

 

• The name of the department, agency, or municipality being complained about
• A summary of the complaint with sufficient detail to explain the problem
• The dates, names and phone numbers of any departmental person you have been in contact with about your complaint (e.g. the worker, manager, supervisor)
• Information about any appeal hearing that may have been held and the outcome
• Copies of any relevant documentation
• Your full name, address and phone number where you can be contacted

     

When the investigation is completed the Ombudsman will consider all the information relevant to the complaint and form an opinion as to whether the decision, recommendation, act or omission relevant to the complaint appears to have been:

• contrary to law
• unreasonable
• unjust
• oppressive
• improperly discriminatory
• in accordance with a procedure that is or may be unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly discriminatory
• based wholly or partly on a mistake of law or fact
• wrong, or
• whether a power or right has been exercised for an improper purpose, on irrelevant grounds or, on taking into account irrelevant considerations, or
• that reasons should have been given for a decision, recommendation, act or omission that was the subject of the investigation