P.E.I. hopes to move on appointing ombudsperson this fall

Government House Leader Sidney MacEwen hopes a legislative committee asked to draft legislation for an ombuds office for P.E.I. will have it ready for the fall sitting.

The fall session of the legislature opens Thursday.

MacEwen is a member of the standing committee on legislative management, which will look at preparing the legislation. He called it another level of openness and transparency for government.

"Members of the public might have a complaint or might have felt they were treated wrongly and they want someone that's separate from government to investigate that," said MacEwen.

"It's something that's been talked about for a long time in around the legislature, and I'm glad to see the work is finally going."

The committee will also consider putting the ombuds office in charge of the Public Interest Disclosure and Whistleblower Protection Act, which cabinet proclaimed earlier this fall, three years after it was passed in the legislature.

If an act is passed, then the committee will proceed with a hiring process.

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