Quebec Ombudsman releases annual report
The Quebec Ombudsperson, Marie Rinfret, released her 20192020 annual report earlier in the month. The report outlines her findings about the quality and integrity of Quebec’s public services, with a message to government departments and agencies and the health and social services network, to ‘get moving’.
Rinfret is calling on the respective authorities to, instead of delaying projects and simply conducting analyses and findings, to implement actual corrective measures. “After the analyses and findings, the time comes when all has been said and everything is in place for action to occur,” said Rinfret.
“Some of these never lead to the corrective measures needed,” she added. “In the meantime, people, sometimes our most vulnerable, bear the brunt of these long delays or of projects left by the wayside.”
Among the list of delayed actions are a complaint processing mechanism in Quebec’s education system, the transfer of responsibility for healthcare in correctional facilities to the Minister of Health and Public Services, support for children with language disorders, and access to family doctors.
The Ombudsperson claimed that the complaint processing mechanism in the education system is complicated and lacks transparency. Following a report in 2017, the Minister of Education promised legislative solutions to the problems, but so far, no bill has passed.
Concerning the transfer of responsibility for healthcare in correctional facilities to the Minister of Health and Public Services, the Ombudsperson said that, in facilities where the responsibility has been transferred, better quality of care has been observed. In Montreal and Quebec City, which account for 40 per cent of the detention population, correctional facilities have yet to complete this transfer with no explanation.
Also included was a discussion on support for children with language disorders moving from preschool to the school system. On that issue, the Ombudsperson claimed that services are drastically reduced or stopped altogether when students arrive for their first year of school. The Minister of Health and Social Services agreed to analyze the situation earlier this year but since then, there have been no developments.
The last of the delayed actions discussed access to a family doctor. Many Quebecers have approached the Quebec Ombudsperson as they are worried that they will remain on a waiting list for over a year.
The Government of Quebec was also called on to improve the quality of the public services provided in the province. Ombudsperson Rinfret described the main shortcomings of these services, including a lack of impartiality and fairness, overfull programs, and the justice system’s unclear and restrictive definitions that deprive some people of crucial assistance.
According to the annual report, a little over a quarter of complaints received by the Ombudsman related to government departments and agencies. The three most prevalent reasons for these complaints are lengthy wait times, failure to uphold citizen’s rights, and financial damage.
There were examples of these shortcomings and rights violations included. The first described a public health official who used public funds to purchase overpriced office furniture, and the publicization of a whistleblower’s identity by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, which has since been corrected, but constituted a privacy violation and possible safety risk for the individual.
The report also discussed the transfer of responsibility of healthcare in correctional facilities. The Ombudsperson described the several complaints received, which the majority concerned lengthy wait times, shortcomings with the living environment, and failure to uphold detainees rights.
Each of the releases concluded by saying that, as an impartial and independent position, the Quebec Ombudsman ensures that the rights of people are upheld in their interactions with public services.
The complete annual report can be found online at https://rapportannuel. protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/