Office of Citizens’ Representative – Newfoundland and Labrador

About

The Office of the Citizens’ Representative provides a province-wide ombudsman service. It was opened in 2002 and is an independent office of the House of Assembly. The primary work of the Citizens’ Representative is to accept complaints from citizens who feel they have been treated unfairly with respect to their contact with government offices and agencies. The Citizens’ Representative and his staff will attempt to mediate citizens’ complaints and if this is not possible, will undertake an impartial and unbiased investigation. If the complaint cannot be resolved throughout the investigation, an investigation report is generated and recommendations can be made to the House of Assembly. The Office of the Citizens’ Representative can also undertake complaints that study how governmental policies, procedures, and actions can affect a large number of people. These are called systemic complaints and can result in recommendations that have a much broader impact than those flowing from individual complaints.