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Friday, 05 December 2008 15:09 |
FYI- If the government accepts our request, the manner in which the TDSB (and other school boards and municipalities) chooses to conduct debates of public import in private session, how it is managing its safe schools and equity departments, spending money while in deficit, Human rights complaints, etc. will at long last be open for public scrutiny through the office of the Ombudsman.
This motion will be debated at the TDSB in January.
Whereas, The Ombudsman of Ontario is an Officer of the Provincial Legislature who is independent of government and political parties and who’s job it is to ensure government accountability through effective oversight of the administration of government services; and
Whereas, The Ombudsman's authority, as established by the Ombudsman Act to oversee the delivery of public services, has not been modernized in over 30 years; and
Whereas, five Canadian provinces and territories already allow the Ombudsman of their respective jurisdictions to investigate school boards; and
Whereas, the Toronto District School Board is granted a budget of $2.3 billion by the provincial government for public education services; and
Whereas, the Ombudsman can investigate complaints about and conduct systemic investigations into services provided by the government of Ontario and its organizations but currently not the “MUSH” (Municipalities, Universities, School boards and Hospitals) sector: and
Whereas, allowing the Ombudsman to investigate school boards, along with other members of the “MUSH” sector, will contribute to holding these public institutions accountable to parents, students and all residents who may have a legitimate complaint about their school board, municipality or another public body that is funded by tax dollars collected by the provincial government;
Therefore, Be it resolved that the Toronto District School Board formally requests that the provincial government amend the Ontario Ombudsman Act to allow the Ombudsman’s authority to extend to municipalities and school boards, universities, hospitals, long-term care facilities, police, and children’s aid societies to support transparency and accountability for the public purse and to protect the rights of Ontarians.
Josh Matlow
Trustee For St. Paul’s
Toronto District School Board
www.joshmatlow.ca
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