Ontario's ombudsman reports increase in complaints about correctional services

Ontario's ombudsman says his office saw an increase in complaints about the province's correctional services in the last year despite progress in how facilities track inmate segregation and handle other key issues.

In his annual report, Paul Dube says he received 5,010 complaints about correctional facilities in 2017-18 compared with 3,998 in theprevious fiscal year.

Dube says there have nonetheless been "systemic improvements" in how segregation is handled following his office's investigation into the matter, which was released last year and found many inmateswere left isolated for long stretches of time without proper review.

Recommendations around use of force accepted, report says

"In both cases, the ombudsman launched formal investigations into these issues and the ministry accepted all of the resulting recommendations," the document says.

Last November, the ministry reported it had implemented four of the recommendations on segregation, including having each placemententered into a database, and partially implemented 12, with another16 in progress, Dube says in the report.

Once a correctional services law passed earlier this year takes effect, it will enact several other improvements that were
recommended in the ombudsman's investigation, the report says. Those include a new definition of segregation, a cap on the length of placements and independent reviewers to scrutinize placements, it says.

Similarly, the policing reform law that was passed this winter will also dramatically improve oversight and governance in lawenforcement once it kicks in, it says.

Progress has also been made in other areas, such as services for people with developmental disabilities, which received new funding following an investigation by the ombudsman's office two years ago, the report says.

New government could impact services, ombudsman says

"What we often discover is that the most entrenched issues are problems that public sector bodies are aware of and often would like to fix," Dube said in a news conference Wednesday.

"They usually stem from rules that are too rigidly applied,procedures that are overly cumbersome, or just customer service that is just not up to par. Sometimes it is due to lack of resources," he said.

Dube was asked about the possibility of cuts under the incoming Progressive Conservative government, which has promised to findbillions in efficiencies each year, and how that might affect bothhis office and the ministries under his oversight.

He acknowledged there may be some impact on services but did notelaborate further.

"Sometimes when there are cuts, services are affected...so we'll see, we'll see what happens and we're always there to promotesolutions," he said.

The ombudsman said he does not believe his own office would bethe target of cuts.

"I heard all parties in the election campaign promoting transparency, accountability and fairness and that's what we're hereto provide," he said. "Any change of government, whether it's at the municipal or the provincial level, I think is an opportunity for us to reach to the new players to make sure they understand what ourrole is and what it isn't."