Who is the Ombud?

The Ombud is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly who investigates complaints from the public about New Brunswick government services. Ombud offices are present throughout the Canadian provinces and their services are free.

Biography

Marie-France Pelletier became the province’s eighth Ombud on January 1, 2022, the second woman to occupy this position since its creation in 1967.

An experienced public sector executive, she worked in the administrative justice sector for over 13 years. She was appointed as the first Chief Administrator (CEO) of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada where she established a service delivery organization specialized in the field of administrative justice. In addition to her work as a tribunal administrator, she is an accomplished adjudicator having served in some of Canada’s largest administrative tribunals, more recently at the Tribunals Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board and previously as the Executive Vice-Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada.

Over the span of her nearly 30-year career in federal and provincial governments, Ms. Pelletier developed an extensive knowledge of the machinery of government. In New Brunswick, her work as Deputy Chief of Staff and then Deputy Minister of Policy and Priorities focused on advancing social policy initiatives, such as governance reforms in the health and education sectors, as well as leading the first review of the Official Languages Act in 40 years.

Ms. Pelletier holds a law degree from the Université de Moncton and is a member of the Law Society of New Brunswick and the Canadian Bar Association. She served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Université de Moncton and chaired its governance committee. She also served on the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals (CCAT) Board as Vice-Chairperson.

Mission

The New Brunswick Ombud’s Office has one central mission: to ensure that all New Brunswick citizens are treated with administrative fairness by government and its agencies.  The Office strives to guarantee that individuals are served in a consistent, fair and reasonable manner by provincial governmental organizations.

History

In 1967, the Government of New Brunswick introducted legislation creating the Office of the Ombud. The Ombud is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly, with a mandate under the New Brunswick Ombud Act to conduct independent investigations of complaints.

The Office of the Ombud has jurisdiction to investigate complaints of an administrative nature in respect to government departments, municipalities, school districts, district education councils, regional health authorities, Crown agencies, and a number of agencies responsible to the Province, including some commissions and boards as defined under the Ombud Act.

Depending upon the nature of a complaint, it is sometimes possible to resolve the complaint informally. If an investigation identifies that an administrative flaw has occurred, and the matter cannot be resolved informally, the Act provides for the Ombud to make a recommendation to the administrative head of the authority concerned.

Visit our contact page for information on contacting the Office of the Ombud.