The B.C. Ombudsperson’s annual report for the past fiscal year is out, and shows complaints to the Ombudsperson’s Officer for the Columbia-River Revelstoke riding to be slightly less than the provincial average.
The report (which covers April 2014 to March 2015) lists 60 complaints for the local riding, compared with a provincial average of 77 per riding.
“Each year, our annual report shows the kind of help we provide all British Columbians, including the most vulnerable people in society,” said outgoing B.C. Ombudsperson Kim Carter in a press release accompanying the report. “In light of our 20-year anniversary of municipal oversight, this year’s report also features additional examples of our work resolving problems at the municipal level.”
According to the report there were a total of 6,589 complaints from the province’s 85 ridings to the B.C. Ombudsperson office during the past fiscal year. Vancouver-Quilchena had the fewest complaints, with 20, while Victoria-Beacon Hill had the most, with 192.
When looking at the province regionally, the most complaints came from the lower mainland (2,420), while the fewest came from the city of Vancouver (650). The interior region (of which Columbia-River Revelstoke is part) had 1,481 complaints.
The majority of the complaints across the province were directed at various provincial government ministries (54 per cent); crown corporations (17 per cent); and commissions and boards (10 percent). The remainder of the complaints were divrected at local governments; health authorities; professional associations; and schools and boards of eduction. The single entity that attracted the largest number of complaints was the provincial Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation, which drew a total of 1,061 complaints.
A breakdown of complaints beyond the riding level was not available, but statistics do track complaints to local governments, and there was one complaint lodged against the village of Canal Flats and one (a request for information or assistance) against the district of Invermere.
Details on exactly what the complains were were not available.
