Québec City, September 19, 2024 – Today, Ombudsperson Marc-André Dowd tabled his 2023-2024 Annual Report at the National Assembly.
"The 'real-life cases' described in our Annual Report show that some public bodies are failing to fulfil their missions. This year, we’ve had to step in regularly to remind them why they exist—the needs of the people who reach out to them and who are often our most vulnerable citizens," said Marc-André Dowd.
People at the heart of public services
For example, as part of an investigation in a CHSLD, the Protecteur du citoyen witnessed a meal in the dining room where the television was blaring and the attendants talked among themselves while ignoring the residents as they helped them eat.
It would be a mistake to generalize about this behaviour by CHSLD staff. However, in this particular case, the facts show a distressing loss of sense of this type of place, which should be a "living environment." The Protecteur du citoyen recommended and obtained the necessary corrective measures.
The responsibility to provide quality services
While certain departments and agencies have no choice but to use external suppliers, they are always fully responsible for the services they provide in this way, whether in the context of a private sector partnership or emergency subcontracting. Complaints handled in 2023-2024 showed that there was a risk of the public bodies not owning up.
For example, in 2022, the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) hired an accounting firm to manage no fewer than 45,000 refund requests from travel agency customers. During the pandemic, tourist service cancellations increased. The OPC is responsible for administering a compensation fund for these situations. One person filed a complaint with the Protecteur du citoyen because after a two-year wait, the review of her claim had still not been completed. The Protecteur du citoyen had to remind the OPC that it remained responsible for ensuring the quality of services provided by its private partner.
In the sphere of public integrity, the Protecteur du citoyen dealt with a disclosure concerning the operation, within a singly-owned structure, of private CHSLDs under contract (financed by public funds) and private institutions, including RPAs (financed by private funds). However, resources were managed in such a way that many expenses were entered as if they were covered by public funds when they should not have been. The Protecteur du citoyen made the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux aware of its responsibility to detect and prevent abuses.
A record number of applications processed in 2023-2024
The Protecteur du citoyen processed a record number of applications this year, with 24,867 grounds for requests, compared with 22,053 in 2022-2023. The breakdown of the grounds for these requests is as follows:
- 13,358 grounds concerning organizations under the Protecteur du citoyen's jurisdiction;
- 5,953 grounds concerning public service departments and agencies;
- 4,813 grounds concerning correctional services;
- 2,279 grounds concerning the health and social services network;
- 313 grounds concerning public integrity. - 11,509 referrals and requests for information.
Public services usually cooperate
In wrapping up, the Protecteur du citoyen emphasized that while its investigations often reveal public service shortcomings, they also show that, as a rule, public services are willing to make the necessary changes.
"Remaining human and taking responsibility for service delivery are priorities that we insist on reminding authorities of. After that, whatever the difficulties in moving from intentions to actions, government is never off the hook when it comes to its fundamental missions," Marc-André Dowd commented.
The Protecteur du citoyen acts impartially and independently to ensure that people's rights are respected in their dealings with public services. Its services are free and user-friendly.
For everything you need to know about the Protecteur du citoyen's 2023-2024 Annual Report, see the Annual Reports section of our website.
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Information:
Carole-Anne Huot, person in charge of media relations
Phone: (418) 646-7143/Cell: (418) 925-7994
Email: medias@protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca
To also read concerning the 2023-2024 Annual Report:
