Under significant threat of wildfire, an evacuation order was issued for all of Enterprise, K’atl’odeeche First Nation, and Hay River NT shortly after 3:00pm on Sunday, August 13, 2023. Except for firefighters and essential personnel, all residents as well as Fort Smith residents who had evacuated to Hay River only hours before to escape another…
Making it Fair is a podcast series led by the Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO). In this video, Diann Bowes and Chad Bouman join host, Lindsay Sellinger on a journey to explore the evolution of Alberta’s administrative fairness principles and the difference these principles are making to individual lives and government systems overall. To…
The Alberta Ombudsman and Public Interest Commissioner’s offices welcomed distinguished guests from Nigeria this week. The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, is a special committee of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with powers of oversight functions and mandate to consider all petitions from Nigerians, both public and private. The…
Ombudsman Marianne Ryan welcomes esteemed colleagues for the annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO) is a council comprised of provincial and territorial Ombudsman whose mandate it is to ensure people are being treated fairly in the delivery of public services. Annually, the council members come…
PEI becomes the latest province to appoint an independent officer responsible for ensuring fairness and providing a safe avenue for whistleblower complaints in the public service. Next week, Sandy Hermiston will become the province’s first Ombudsperson and Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner. The Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO) warmly welcomes the news. “On behalf of…
Alberta Ombudsman, Marianne Ryan introduces best practice paper “Giving Voice to Mental Health Patients” at the virtual International Ombudsman Institute’s 12th General Assembly and World Conference this week. The paper, inspired by Mary Marshall of Meadows Law and former solicitor to the Alberta Ombudsman, and written by Alberta Ombudsman staffer Daniel Johns, was co-presented by the trio in…
As countries around the world, and some jurisdictions in Canada contemplate how or if certification of COVID-19 vaccination status will be implemented in daily life, Canadian Ombudsman are stressing a cautious approach that places fairness at the heart of any potential vaccination certification system that is applied to public services. The Canadian Council of Parliamentary…
The Ombudsman attended the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) meeting in Vienna, Austria in April 2013. A number of Board business items were addressed. Most significantly, the IOI approved 7,500 euros to the City of Toronto Ombudsman, which is developing a protocol for Accountability of Ombudsman offices. This is a needed and overdue study, and will…
Alberta’s Ombudsman hosted all Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO) members across Canada in May. In addition to holding the annual meeting, a tour was taken of the new Remand Centre in Edmonton. This was an excellent opportunity to view the centre. A short meeting was also held with the Lieutenant Government, along with a tour of…