Broader Public Sector Accountability Measures En Route

March 7, 2014 | André R. Nowakowski

The Government of Ontario announced on March 6, 2014 that it will be introducing legislation to strengthen accountability and increasing transparency.  Some of these measures had previously been raised by the Government in the late fall of 2013.  Although the legislation has not yet been introduced, according to the Government some of the key points will include:

  • authorization for the Government to implement compensation frameworks, including maximum compensation levels, for senior executives in the Broader Public Sector (“BPS”);
  • allowing the Ontario Integrity Commissioner to review executive expenses in selected organizations;
  • requiring the publishing of the business plans and other documents by BPS organizations;
  • extending the role of the Ontario Ombudsman to include municipalities, school boards, and publicly funded universities;
  • establishing a Patient Ombudsman to assist patients in resolving complaints against public hospitals, Long-Term Care Homes, and Community Care Access Centres.

There will also apparently be non-legislative measures, presumably by regulation, that will require appointees of the Government and senior executives in certain classified agencies to post expense information online.

The legislation will also have measures for other matters such as the publishing of expense information for MPPs.

We will continue to monitor the introduction and progress of this legislation and will provide updates.

Disclaimer

This blog sets out a variety of materials relating to the law to be used for educational and non-commercial purposes only; the author(s) of this blog do not intend the blog to be a source of legal advice. Please retain and seek the advice of a lawyer and use your own good judgement before choosing to act on any information included in the blog. If you choose to rely on the materials, you do so entirely at your own risk.