<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23520">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; WIDOWS: 1; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 18px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; DISPLAY: block; FONT: 12px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(50,73,96); WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"
id=article_header>
<H1
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: bold 24px/27px Arial, Helvetica; COLOR: rgb(175,87,33); PADDING-TOP: 0px; font-stretch: normal"
id=article_title class=main_h1>Alice in Ombudsmanland (from Canadian
Charger)</H1></DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(182,189,181) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; WIDOWS: 1; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 80px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: 12px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(134,141,144); WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"
id=article_bio><IMG style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; PADDING-RIGHT: 8px; FLOAT: left"
src="http://www.thecanadiancharger.com/cms/contributors/images/5/RA-new.jpg"
width=75 height=75>
<H2
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: bold 14px/16px Arial, Helvetica; COLOR: rgb(134,141,144); PADDING-TOP: 0px; font-stretch: normal"
id=article_author class=main_h2>Reuel S. Amdur</H2></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(182,189,181) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 20px; WIDOWS: 1; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 20px; MIN-HEIGHT: 80px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: 12px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(50,73,96); WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">Alice
in Ombudsmanland may well serve as an additional chapter for Lewis Carroll's
famous Alice in Wonderland. The chapter could well be subtitled "In the
Bureaucratic Rabbit Hole." But before beginning this weird and wondrous chapter,
we need a bit of background.</DIV>
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; WIDOWS: 1; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: 12px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(50,73,96); OVERFLOW: hidden; WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"
id=article_text>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG></STRONG>First,
what is the office of the Ombudsman in Ontario? </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
Ontario office is one of numerous such offices around the globe, inspired by a
Swedish original, the aim being to help the individual in situations in which he
feels he is facing injustice. While the typical office relates to
government, now some other organizations also have ombudsmen. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
Ontario Ombudsman’s web FAQ states, “The Ombudsman investigates public
complaints about Ontario government services.” The role implies openness
and accessibility for the little guy.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Now
about the particular problem at issue. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I
work with a lawyer who represents a man currently in prison. We’ll call
him Cecil. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">That
is where this strange tale begins.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I
submitted a detailed complaint to the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman, along
with an authorization for me to act on his behalf. After a few weeks,
having had no acknowledgement of receipt, I called the Ombudsman’s office.
The call was not returned. A few days later, I tried again, with the same
result. Third time was a charm—or not. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">On
the third try, I was connected to a woman. I don’t know her name, but
we’ll call her Alice. I wanted to know what the status of the complaint
was. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">She
told me that she needed to talk directly to Cecil before she could talk to
me. I pointed out that the Ombudsman had his written consent. No
matter, she needed to talk to him first. Besides, she said, “I cannot
acknowledge or deny that he have received a complaint from him.” This to
the person who submitted the complaint, with my signature on it! </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Alice
insisted that Cecil call her, so I wrote him a letter, telling him to do
so. He recently called me to describe what happened. He called, but
Alice was not available. Call again.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">When
I talked to Alice, I told her that I thought Cecil and I were being bogged down
in bureaucracy. No, she insisted, it was to protect Cecil’s privacy.
Well, what is the difference between her privacy concern and my complaint about
bureaucracy? Let’s look at what has happened.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">There
was no acknowledgement to the complaint, certainly not to me and in all
likelihood not to Cecil. It took calls on three different occasions for me
to be able to talk to anyone about the case. No one called me
back. </P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">You
can be certain that she will feel no impulse to take the initiative to call
you.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">As
you stumble down this bureaucratic rabbit hole, things get, in Carroll’s words,
“curiouser and curiouser.”</P></DIV>
<UL
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; WIDOWS: 1; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); LIST-STYLE-TYPE: none; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; MARGIN: 20px 0px 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT: 12px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; HEIGHT: 14px; COLOR: rgb(50,73,96); BORDER-TOP: rgb(180,189,181) 1px solid; WORD-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px"
id=article_footer><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline></UL></DIV></BODY></HTML>