2015

On January 1, 2016, citizens of Ontario will finally be able to bring their municipal complaints to their provincial Ombudsman. For readers in B.C., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon, this won’t seem like news – their ombudsmen have long had jurisdiction over municipalities, dealing with complaints about everything from misuse of public funds to bylaw changes.

Forgive me for saying this on the first day of summer, but some of us are already getting ready for back-to-school season.

The mood was festive at Queen’s Park when Bill 8, the MPP and Public Sector Accountability and Transparency Act was passed Dec. 9.

Prof. Erika Simpson, in the Dec. 20 Forum Public pay, public scrutiny, raises some serious issues in writing about her Western University colleague Andrew Sancton, who was aggrieved when I temporarily blocked him on Twitter.