Sep 18, 2018

Acting Manitoba Ombudsman Marc Cormier has determined that his office will investigate whether the decision-making process related to the release of information about 2017 soil testing in St. Boniface was consistent with applicable policy and legislation, such as the Election Financing Act.

“I believe looking more closely into this complaint can help to shed light on this specific incident and to bring greater clarity to the process for releasing this type of government information generally,” said Cormier.

“Although the complainant also raised concerns with the actions of elected officials, the Ombudsman Act restricts the review of political decision-making. We can however, consult with any person who can provide information relevant to the complaint. In this case, consultation with elected officials may be required to fully understand the context of this issue.”

We acknowledge that additional issues related to information sharing surrounding soil quality were publicly raised in media stories. Any affected individual may make a complaint to our office. Information about how to make a complaint is available on our website at www.ombudsman.mb.ca.

Manitoba Ombudsman promotes fairness and administrative accountability in the public service through the independent, objective and non-partisan investigation of complaints under the Ombudsman Act. The ombudsman’s authority to conduct investigations into any decision or action relating to a matter of administration in or by any department or agency of the government is set out in section 15 of the act.

As this investigation has commenced, and ombudsman investigations are conducted in private, we will provide no further details about the investigation until it has concluded.