Toronto Ombudsman

From the Ombudsman
Thursday, June 26, 2014

2014 Ombudsman Award Nominees

Nine City of Toronto staff have been nominated for the third Ombudsman's Award, which recognizes an individual or group who provided outstanding public service in proactively resolving complaints made to the Ombudsman.

The criteria include:

• Demonstrating leadership in problem solving and good customer service
• Showing innovative approaches to dispute resolution
• Applying system-wide solutions
• Being exceptionally responsive and co-operative in a complaint inquiry or investigation

On June 23, 2014 we honoured the nominees who met one or more of the above criteria:

• Roger Caramanico, Customer Service Representative, TTC
• Teresa Clarke, Director, Employment Services, Human Resources Department, TTC
• Antoanela Culcearu, Operating Unit Manager, TCHC
• Ryan Lanyon, Program Officer, Transportation Services
• Joe Magalhaes, District Manager, Investigation Services, Municipal, Licensing & Standards
• Barry Randell, Director, Court Services
• Pamela Spencer, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, TCHC
• Lynda Taschereau, Executive Director, Strategic & Corporate Policy, City Manager's Office
• Wendy Walberg, Practice Lead, Legal Services

An external panel will evaluate the nominations. The jury is made up of: Sabina Ali, Project Coordinator, Thorncliffe Park Women's Committee; Rahul Bhardwaj, President & CEO, Toronto Community Foundation; Angela Coke, Associate Deputy Minister, Shared Services, Government of Ontario; Sheldon Levy, President & Vice Chancellor, Ryerson University; Susan McIsaac, President & CEO, United Way Toronto; Carol Wilding, President & CEO, Toronto Board of Trade.

The winner(s) will be honoured at a ceremony on September 30, 2014.

The Ombudsman, Fiona Crean, noted that these nominees have each made the extra, sometimes difficult, effort of championing the Ombudsman’s role and in so doing they have made an important contribution to better governance.