Advanced Issues in Ombuds Practice

Leading Your Ombuds Office

• Strategies for maintaining an enthusiastic, productive and highly trained staff group, both those new to Ombuds work and those with significant experience
• Best practices on how to deliver high quality and innovative service in early resolution and investigative work on a day-to-day basis and evaluate performance
• Exploration of effective recruitment and retention strategies

Learning from other Ombuds Offices

• Exploring the evolution of Ombuds organizations world-wide and challenges faced by newly established and mature Ombuds roles both in stable ad tumultuous jurisdictions for Canadian Ombuds
• Discussion of lessons to be learned and pitfalls to be planned for and avoided

Strategies for Interacting with the Media

• Strategies for Ombuds on how to interact with the media to ensure that conclusions, recommendations and reports are represented accurately and how to address the perils that can arise from “fake news”.
• Tips on how to use various forms of media to build higher visibility and produce more persuasive and accurate content.

“What I know now that I wish I knew much earlier in my career”
Ombuds with years of experience will reflect on their greatest successes and worst experiences while explaining what they would do differently today given the benefit of hindsight and a more varied experience

Major Investigations

• Using a case study, you will conduct an in-depth review of a complex, high profile investigation and take-away lessons applicable to major investigations, including:
  • Determining whether to investigate and addressing legislator involvement
  • How the investigation would be funded and the resources allocated
  • Team structure and organization
  • Managing terabytes of records
  • Publicly funded legal representation and litigation issues
  • Obtaining, using and disclosing privileged information
  • Ensuring own administrative fairness
  • Approaches to findings and recommendations
  • Planning an effective public release
  • Respondents’ and community reaction
  • Obtaining commitments from government and monitoring the implementation of recommendations

Q & A with The Honourable Raymonde Saint-Germain
An interactive discussion on best practices and strategies with The Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain. As an experienced public administrator, she has served in several senior multidisciplinary positions at the national and international levels, including as Québec Ombudsperson, Deputy Minister of Government Services, Deputy Minister of Relations with Citizens and Immigration, Assistant Deputy Minister of International Relations, and Quebec Official Publisher.