NDP Children and Youth Services Critic Andrea Horwath says the Ontario Ombudsman must have the power to probe decisions of the province's Children's Aid Societies (CAS).

The Hamilton Centre MPP is urging the McGuinty government to consider swift passage of her private members legislation that she reintroduced last week. Bill 93 (formerly Bill 88) would enable the Ombudsman to conduct independent reviews of CAS decisions about child welfare and protection.

"This is the glaring, missing piece in the oversight of our child protection system,” Horwath said. “Ontario is one of the few provinces that refuses vulnerable children an independent avenue of redress.”

Five other provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) have Ombudsman oversight of child welfare issues including child protection. Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland have independent oversight through separate offices.

Horwath's comments came following today’s release of Ontario Ombudsman André Marin’s annual report, in which he repeated his call to be granted the power to address the concerns of many aggrieved families who currently have no truly independent appeal mechanism that only the Ombudsman can provide.

Canada’s Ombudsmen first identified investigations concerning children as their top priority back in 1986.

“The Ombudsman has the tools, the resources, the investigative know-how and the ability to compel testimony and call witnesses. Why the McGuinty government has continually prevented these skills from being employed for the betterment of Ontario families is beyond me,” Horwath said.