Press Release
Toronto, December 23, 2009
How has the Ombudsman idea worked out in Canada and has it improved public service? To answer these and other questions the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) proudly announces a new publication edited by Professor Stewart Hyson, Provincial and Territorial Ombudsman Offices in Canada.
The Ombudsman was introduced in the provinces in the late 1960s as a complement to our democratic institutions. The Ombudsman was designed as a citizen’s defender, to investigate complaints on government administrative activity.
Provincial and Territorial Ombudsman in Canada reveals the success stories and the limitations of the Ombudsman Office. Ten case studies focus on the origins, evolution, mandate, caseload, leadership, organizational capacity and the performance of the offices. The Ombudsman has evolved from the role of an intermediary between the public and the administrative state, steering complaints to complaint-handling bodies, to a proactive role of educating the public about administrative processes and probing systemic issues.
“Team members were attracted [to this project] by the uniqueness of the Ombudsman as an essential component of democratic administration in Canada” said Professor Hyson, when he spoke at IPAC’s 61st Annual Conference in Fredericton. The changing nature of government, including privatization and neoliberal restructuring, will pose new challenges to the Ombudsman’s office, “as more public services will fall outside the purview of traditional accountability-control mechanisms found in the democratic administrative state”, noted Professor Hyson.
Professor Stewart Hyson is an assistant professor in the Department of History and Politics at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John. His research interests are Canadian Government and politics, public policy and administration, political parties and elections, corruption and ethics in politics and provincial politics.
Under the supervision of Dr. Patrice Dutil, Editor of the IPAC Series in Public Management and Governance, this book is published by the University of Toronto Press with the support of the Canada School of Public Service.
The Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), founded in 1947, is a dynamic association of public servants, academics, and others interested in public administration, with 17 regional groups across Canada. IPAC is a membership-based organization that creates knowledge networks and leads public administration research in Canada. Our mission is to promote excellence in public service. IPAC is also a major player in exporting successful Canadian public sector expertise around the world. Visit our website at www.ipac.ca
For more information, please contact:
Institute of Public Administration of Canada
Wendy A. Feldman, Director of Research
416-924-8787, ext. 228
wfeldman@ipac.ca
www.ipac.ca
IPAC Events
