Whether the province’s ombudsperson is investigating the City of Burnaby over its zoning practices has been called into question.
On Wednesday, Mayor Derek Corrigan called theNOW to say the city was contacted by the Office of the Ombudsperson and told the office hasn’t started any investigation.
“They phoned us specifically to say they haven’t commenced any kind of investigation and certainly what she (Helen Ward) is saying isn’t true,” he said. “It concerned the ombudsperson office enough that they called up our (City manager) and said we’re not commencing any investigation so we don’t know what this is all about.”
On Tuesday, Ward, chair of the Burnaby First Coalition, held a press conference at city hall to announce the Office of the Ombudsperson would be investigating Burnaby’s rezoning practices in response to a complaint she filed.
Following the press conference, the NOW contacted the Office of the Ombudsperson to confirm the investigation but was told by a spokesperson it couldn’t say whether or not the complaint was being investigated, citing privacy concerns.
When contacted by the NOW for comment, Ward said she filed the complaint and was told by the office there would be an investigation.
“They called me back in May and said they would investigate and that they would tell me who the investigator would be at some time,” she said.
Ward explained that she had received a series of letters from the Office of the Ombudsperson related to the complaint.
A letter dated May 17 and signed by Rhonda Brown, a complaints analyst with the Office of the Ombudsperson, stated: “Due to the volume of complaints we receive, we are unable to consider all complaints right away. As soon as we are able to give your concerns our focused attention, we will contact you to discuss your complaint in more detail.”
A second letter dated July 6 and signed by Linda Blackman, manager of investigations with the office, stated in order to proceed further with the complaint, the office requires documents that support Ward’s concerns. The letter also noted if the office doesn’t receive the information by July 27, the file would be closed.
Ward said she asked for weeklong extension and sent the documents to the Office of the Ombudsperson last week.
“As far as I know, they’re investigating,” she said.
Ward also questioned why the office couldn’t discuss the complaint with the media but would tell city officials there was no complaint.
On Wednesday, Brad Densmore, a spokesperson with the Office of the Ombudsperson, once again said the agency couldn’t speak about the specifics of the file, citing confidentiality.
“I’m saying the same to every media outlet, we treat complaints confidentially, so I’m not confirming if there is an investigation at this time,” he told the NOW.
When asked if the office would call the city to tell officials there isn’t an investigation, Densmore said that wouldn’t typically occur in the early stages.
“That would be kind of unusual, but I wouldn’t speculate,” he said.
Densmore did note the Office of the Ombudsperson would be in contact with the city to get information from authorities for the file.
The website for the Office of the Ombudsperson said it can “help determine whether provincial public authorities have acted fairly and reasonably – and whether their actions and decisions were consistent with relevant legislation, policies and procedures.”
The office receives 7,500 complaints a year.
Ward’s complaint is that the city made changes to density and amended community plans without broad public consultation and was in violation of the Local Government Act.
