We
are faced today with the example of Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford's
limitless arrogance awaiting adjudication by Ontario's courts.
Toronto's Integrity Commissioner found Mayor Ford in breach of the
Municipal Act Conflict of Interest Legislation. Mayor Ford ignored
the Integrity Commissioner and it has been up to a private individual
to take action and bring Mayor Ford before the court. Ford's lawyer
is quoted as saying, .... “You
don't have to obey the law, an order, that is clearly unlawful.”
(Natalie Alcoba, National Post)
Who
decides that a law is improper or fair? Regardless, there is no sign
of the Ombudsman nor any real action other than empty words by the
Integrity Commissioner.
A
budget of 10.75 million dollars for the 2011-2012 operating period
and a staff with titles such as 'early resolution officer', the
Office of the Ombudsman makes some impressive claims. In Ontario the
Office of the Ombudsman was instituted in 1975, with powers and
authorities set out in the Ombudsman Act. The Ombudsman is
independent of government and political parties, and his job is to
hold government accountable by reviewing and investigating public
complaints about the administration of government services.
Sounds
impressive, more so as the Ombudsman has the power to enter any
government premises to gather evidence, and the power to compel
witnesses to give evidence. “He may investigate and
report his findings publicly if he finds that a decision, recommendation, act or omission of a body he oversees was contrary to
law, unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, discriminatory, based on a
mistake of law or fact, or simply wrong,” (Wikipedia,
Ontario Ombudsman).
These
powers are augmented by teams at the Ombudsman's office such as SORT
and OMLET. Yet the reality is simple and somewhat alarming, that not
one elected representative's egg has ever been cracked to date. SORT
(Special Ombudsman Response Team) brags of training hundreds of
investigators and ombudsman around the world since the inception of
its annual training course titled “Sharpening Your Teeth.” Still
all of this looks good in annual reports to justify the 10.75 million
dollar budget, the reality paints a different picture one that is far
less impressive.
Our
Ombudsman has no authority at all to do anything with those elected
into public office regardless how dishonest, arrogant or plainly
corrupt they might be. He cannot question, compel or investigate in
any way a cabinet minister regardless of how definite the evidence is
that proves that minister's breaches. OMLET, SORT and all the
“Sharpening” of Teeth is simply a fallacy.
Our
Ombudsman and his team was provided with clear evidence of a cabinet
minister who had instructed directors from his ministry to lie and
alter reports that had been entered into official record. It was not
a simple allegation without supporting evidence.
Minister
Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment had requested Lisa Feldman
Director of Investigation and Enforcement to alter what were
instructions set out in a ministry report of February 16th
2011. Minister Jim Bradley requested Director Bill Bardswick to
alter and add to a report submitted in March 2010. Ministry of the
Environment reports are official documents submitted under the
protocol of the Environmental Bill of Rights. A copy is provided to
the individual who had applied for an investigation under the EBR and
a copy to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. The ECO then
combines MOE reports into his annual report which he presents to the
Ontario Legislature.
Official
documents were being altered by an elected member of our Ontario
Provincial Parliament. Clear evidence was provided to support these
very serious allegations and the Office of the Ombudsman appointed an
Early Resolution Officer, one Maggie DiDomizio to conduct the
investigation. It is difficult to understand what is the role of an
'early resolution officer' at the Office of the Ombudsman. Who are
these 'officers', what experience or knowledge do they have.
According to the Ombudsman's Act they have some authority at their
disposal. The title of such an individual infers that it is their
job to find some form of resolution to a situation therefore avoiding
an investigation? In this case no resolution was possible and only
an investigation at a senior level was required. Maggie DiDomizio
found herself out of her depth and that became alarmingly apparent
with her actions.
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True
the Ombudsman has no power or authority over the Ontario government,
its ministers or how it conducts its business of politics. Still one
would think there is enough authority to question the directors and
other employees of a ministry and comprehend the material provided.
DiDomizio presented a report in relation to file #187333, and proved
the real impotence of the Office of the Ombudsman. In fact DiDomizio
simply became a mouthpiece for Director Feldman in presenting another
lie and now altering a part of the original report submitted by the
MOE. DiDomizio ignored written confirmation provided by the author
of the original report of 2011 and totally ignored what was presented
in relation to Director Bardswick. When questioned about the status
of any investigation of that situation, DiDomizio simply refused to
reply and claimed she was out of the office till September 17th.
DiDomizio
in her report states “She (the Director of Investigations and
Enforcement) said that, while there is no MOE offence relating to the
parking of the vehicles, the MOE made a suggestion that the vehicles
be moved as their location could possibly be a concern for the City
of St. Catharines.” The original MOE report of February 16th
2011 states “As a preventative measure, the property owner has
already been advised to move the damaged vehicles away from the
property lines so as to lessen the potential for fluids to move
offsite and to clean up any spills detected in a timely manner.”
The
original report of February 16th 2011 was signed by Ass.
Dep. Min. Kevin French. On behalf of Kevin French an email was sent
on July 16th 2012 by Jayne Harten, Issues Manager and
Strategic Advisor Office of the ADM Operations Division. Jayne
Harten states, “Ministry staff spoke to the property owner of
Sun Collision, Mr. Sam Demita, during their visit on January 5 2011
and followed up with a written letter dated January 13 2011,
requesting that the damaged vehicles be parked away from the fence
line as a preventative measure. This request was outlined in the EBR
decision summary which was sent to you in February 2011. A copy was
also provided to Sun Collision.”
A
copy of the original report of February 16th 2011 and of
the email by Jayne Harten on behalf of Ass. Dep. Min. Kevin French
were provided and at the disposal of DiDomizio. In addition to both
of these documents DiDomizio had a copy of the letter from Director
Feldman, in fact DiDomizio states “I note that the Director said
in her June 13 2012 letter that the MOE would convey your concerns to
the City...” Feldman had this to say in her June 13th
letter, “You have expressed concerns in your emails about
damaged vehicles parked by the fence on the Sun Collision property, a
concern that you also raised in correspondence to Minister Bradley in
February of 2012. In response to those concerns, the Ministry
determined that there is no evidence of an offence in regards to this
matter, and as such no action will be taken by the Ministry with
respect to that issue.”
Nowhere
at any time did it state that the MOE suggested the vehicles be moved
because it may be a concern to the City of St. Catharines as is now
claimed in the report by DiDomizio. Both the report of February
2011 and the email from Jayne Harten on behalf of Ass. Dep. Min.
French made it clear that Sam Demita of Sun Collision was told to
move the damaged vehicles in three separate ways, and on three
separate occasions. It would seem that the MOE meant what they
said, going to such lengths. Yet Director Feldman lied to an
investigator from the Ombudsman's office, why? DiDomizio had all
this at her disposal and yet monkeyed Feldman's lie! Is DiDomizio so
ignorant of the evidence or did she have another motivation, one less
pleasant to discuss? DiDomizio compromised the Office of the
Ombudsman and must be investigated now herself.
It
was not enough that DiDomizio parroted new lies by the Director of
Investigations and Enforcement she also lied herself as to the author
of the original complaint brought before the Ombudsman. DiDomizio
states that in relation to the complaint “You questioned how the
property owner could refuse to comply with MOE's instructions without
consequence and alleged that the MOE had intentionally falsified its
February 16 2011 report, which you claim is a breach of the
Environmental Bill of Rights (the EBR).” An absolute lie by
DiDomizio, either that or she has a serious problem in comprehending
the English language. In my original letter to the Ombudsman it was
made clear that the MOE had allowed a business owner to ignore its
instructions potentially putting a neighbourhood at risk. At no
point was it claimed “that the MOE had intentionally falsified
its February 16 2011 report.”
Clear
evidence had been provided that MOE had attempted to alter details of
reports that they had filed officially on record. What was the
reason for DiDomizio to lie? She continued to prove her incompetence
with this statement: “The Ombudsman does not oversee the
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, or any other officers of the
legislature.” First of all the Environmental Commissioner is
an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and he
presents his final annual report to the Legislative Assembly.
According to Wikipedia, “Ontario's Ombudsman oversees and
investigates public complaints about the government of Ontario,
including more than 500 provincial government ministries, agencies,
corporations, tribunals, boards and commissions.”
That
aside, at no point in the original letter had any request been made
for an investigation nor any form of oversight of the Environmental
Commissioner. The letter did state to the Ombudsman on July 15th
2012, “As your procedure is to speak to representatives
of the ministry in question it is of utmost importance that you also
speak to Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Mr.
Miller has been made aware of all details of the ministry attempts to
alter details of reports filed under the Environmental Bill of
Rights.” How was it possible in any way to misunderstand
this?
Mr.
Peter Lapp, Director of Operations at the Environmental Commissioner
of Ontario states in a letter dated August 28th
2012, “In your letters you state that you have forwarded
your concerns to the Ombudsman. The ECO will cooperate in every way
with any request from the Ombudsman.” The ECO has
no powers to commence “own-motion” investigations and this would
of been the only opportunity to provide serious information relevant
to the 'investigation' at hand.
Did
DiDomizio intentionally pretend not to understand what was set out
before her in English? If her role was to review the details, then
how was it possible to ignore the ECO on the grounds she quoted? It
was the ECO who received the original reports and had presented them
to the Legislative Assembly. It was the ECO who could provide all
the details as to the severity and implications of any attempt to
alter reports placed on record. All of this seemed to escape the
purview of DiDomizio's investigative abilities. Yet there was more
to come.
DiDomizio
states “we have previously reviewed concerns that you have
raised in connection with the subject property and the MOE.” A
statement that is now on official record and one that intentionally
presents an image of the complainant as vexatious. All the evidence
and material provided was ignored and the Office of the Ombudsman had
become a parrot presenting a new lie by MOE.
We
in Ontario have no protection in reality against those elected.
Andre Marin (appointed Ombudsman 2005 – present) may brag about his
awards such as the one from the Ontario's Bar Association, he may
brag about the special investigative powers such as SORT and OMLET,
but he has no real authority. In his 2009 annual report, Marin
emphasized the importance of oversight and accountability, yet he has
no power to ensure that where it really matters. The elected
representatives of our government still do as they please with
complete impunity of the law.
Ontario
Ombudsman file number #187333 proves that even with an annual budget
of 10.75 million dollars, a staff of 80 plus, the Ombudsman Act in
hand and special teams of investigators such as SORT and OMLET,
Ontario's Watchdog is simply a toothless hound.
On
Friday the 14th of September 2012 a second letter was
received from Mr. Peter Lapp, Director of Operations Environmental
Commissioner of Ontario. For the second time Mr. Lapp states “...you
have also forwarded your concerns to the Ombudsman. The ECO will
cooperate in every way with any request from the Ombudsman.” Once
again the ECO makes it clear that they were expecting to provide
information in this extremely serious breach of legislation by the
Ministry of Environment.
DiDomizio
must be investigated as to her handling of this investigation. She
lied in her report not only in relation to the original complaint
presented to the Office of the Ombudsman but she also repeated a new
lie by Director Lisa Feldman of the MOE and therefore Minister Jim
Bradley. DiDomizio intentionally ignored the details requesting that
she contact the ECO and covered that up with a lie. Testimony by the
ECO would prove the breach of legislation against Lisa Feldman, the
Ministry of the Environment and Minister Jim Bradley. DiDomizio
intentionally avoided this potentially damaging testimony and the
question lingers as to why.
Has
Minister Jim Bradley used a representative of the Office of the
Ombudsman to further cover up his breach of legislation? Has
Minister Jim Bradley used Maggie DiDomizio, Early Resolution Officer
at the Office of the Ombudsman to place on record aspersions upon the
credibility of the complainant labelling the complainant as
vexatious? DiDomizio with her report on Ombudsman file #187333 dated
August 27th 2012 has slandered the complainant, she has
perpetuated the lie by Director Lisa Feldman of the MOE made at the
request of Minister Jim Bradley and intentionally avoided crucial
testimony that would of been provided by the ECO.
Andre Marin is responsible for the
actions of all his staff. This investigation must be reopened and
conducted by an impartial experienced investigator. Maggie DiDomizio
has to face a full internal investigation and her report struck from
record. A full public apology is required to be provided to the
original complainant. The Ombudsman may not have any authority to
investigate corruption within our government or its ministers but he
can take action against Director's Feldman and Bardswick and the
ministry. Clear evidence has been provided of lies and breach of
legislation, additional evidence is willingly awaiting. It is time
for Andre Marin to yank the chain on Ontario's Watchdog, put its
dentures in and take a bite.
Send comments to demtruth@gmail.com
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