thePodcast: Ombudsperson Jay Chalke on the challenge to keep a growing government accountable to citizens

For the week of Oct. 29, 2023: Established in 1979, British Columbia’s Office of the Ombudsperson is the independent voice for fairness and accountability when public bodies fall short.  Jay Chalke, the Ombudsperson since 2015, is the watchdog for 1,000 public bodies. He also oversees the province’s whistleblower protection law. Government has gotten bigger and citizen complaints more complex since 2020.  Last year, the office received more than 7,300 complaints under the Ombudsperson Act, mainly about the decisions or outcomes of decisions by public bodies, their procedures and how they communicate. ICBC, ministries involved in child protection and poverty reduction attracted […]