-In the recently publish-

ed 1986 annual report of _-

the B.C, Ombudsman to
the legislature the Ministry
.of Social -Services and
Housing (MSSH) was
‘shown to. have drawn
more complaints than any
other provincial govern-
ment ministry, agency,.
board or crown corpora-
tion. _

Of the 11,012 inquiries
and complaints handled
by the office of the Om-
budsman last year, 1,603

were directed at MSSH,-

an average of between
four and five contacts dai-

ly. Of those complaints, -

two were ‘substantiated
and corrected after recom-
mendations from the Om-
budsman, 660 were resoiv-
ed during investigation,
311. were unsubstantiated,
386 were withdrawn, and
-244 were in the nature of
inquiries rather than com-
plaints.

Runner-up on the dis-
satisfaction list was the
Ministry of the Attorney

General with 997 contacts, .

most of which seemed to
be regarding the Correc-
tions Branch,
‘Workers’ Compensation
Board came in third with

- - Moters in provincial

‘elections: will no longer be
able.to.register at the polls
on. election day under the
terms of a bill recently in-
troduced in ‘the B.C.

‘legislature, The proposed -

amendments to the Elec-
tion Act will: instead
provide an additional
registration period during
election campaigns.

Bil'. 28, brought for-
ward by -Provincial
Secretary Elwood Veitch,
will also allow disabled
and shut-in. voters to
- register and submit their

‘ballots by mail and.

changes residency.require-

_ ment for provincial elec-

tors from a minimum of
12 months in Canada to a
minimum six months in

B.C.

In a statement issued
when the legislation was

introduced, Veitch termed
the polling-day registra-

tions ‘‘clearly an abuse of
the system’’, noting that
in some districts up to 83
percent of the last-minute
“registrations were entered
‘by voters who were
already registered in
another riding. Under
later questioning, how-
ever, he reportedly admit-
ted there-is no evidence of
anyone, casting two votes

- in separate ridings.

18. Terrace Review — Wednesday, Ju

‘SOCIAL SERVICES
COMPLAINTS __

The

cae

774 contacts.

At the bottom of the list

were the B.C. Develop-

‘ment Corporation, The

Environmental Appeal
‘Board, and the Ministries
of Tourism,. International

‘Trade; and Industry and

Small Business, each of
which was the subject. of
fewer than four com-
plaints. an

Ombudsman Stephen -

‘Owen, in his first year at

“the post, said the .com-
' plaints generated 3,500

full investigations with 60
percent being resolved to.
the complainant's §satis-

faction, 39 percent deter- ©

mined to be unsub-
stantiated, and one per-

cent remaining un- .

resolved.
Owen highlighted the

following changes in gov-

ernment policy and

administrative procedure

that came about as a

result of his office’s ac-

tions: -
@ Policies on the seizure
and sale of goods by sher-

iffs will be clarified after .

marine equipment valued

at $20,000 was seized from ©
a B.C. man while he was’

absent and sold to pay off

Election Act =|
‘changes alter |Z
registration rules

registrations for a ten-day

period after an election.is’

called and for an addi-

tional six-day period after — |

nominations: close.

B.C. Chief Returning

Officer _Harry Goldberg.

pointed out in-an inter-: |~ ”
view that under the | ~

amended act, assuming a

four-year period between -

elections, there would on-

ly be 12 working days dur- -
ing which registration .

would be closed: One of

those days would be poll- |. §
ing day. te

Goldberg also ‘indicated
Section 80 voters who

change ridings after the —

enumeration will vote on
regular rather than special
ballots, a change intended.
to speed up the vote-
counting process and
eliminate delays ‘in final
results. Other Section 80
‘voters, such as .absentee

voters,. will continue to .

mark special ballots.
Enumerations will take

place in the third year —

after an election instead of
the second year under Bill

28, an amendment design- _

ed to provide more ac-
curate voting lists, and the
enumerations will be done
in May instead .of
September. .

Opposition critics have

objected to the elimina-

tion of voting-day regis-

Phe ‘amendments, pres- . tration, saying it places

| ently'in the first-reading ~ another obstacle between
committee stage in— the.
legislature, will. allow.

“the public and the ballot

024, 1987°

WER Geb ort en
; E: y
Ag .

result of. an: investigation

by the. Ombudsnian the -
man was compensated for .

the loss. cs
@ Court Services will en-

Sure that ‘handicapped
‘people are given all re-

quired assistance to reach
courtrooms, = = 8
@ Adolescents will be

given. the: same appeal
Tights .as adults with

regard :to social services

-income, assistance bene-

fits.

@ The Ministry of

legal. questions regarding
unsatisfactory repair work

on_ claimants’ vehicles, .
and ICBC will also at-

tempt’ to clarify who

Should contract for

abour will draft amend-
- .Ments to the Employment
- Standards Act to make the
oe deadline for filing: com-
plaints more flexible. -
-@ People who don’t
speak either of the official
languages will be allowed
to. use translators when
taking written examina-
‘tions. for B.C. drivers
licenses.
. @ The- Insurance Corp-
oration of B.C. will review.

ER

the corporation. «©. --

@ The Ministry of Social
Services and Housing
_ agreed to alter its policies’
on the manner in which:

Unemployment Insurance

benefits and. Workers’
Compensation payments

are. deducted from social
assistance. allowances.

- @ The Workers’ -Com-
pensation Board is review-.

ing definitions of compen-

. sability related to injuries

sustained ‘‘in’’ and “out”?

Of the course of employ-_

ment. .— _ ;
Figures. in Owen’s

repairs, the claimant .or

. the: Ombudsman’s office —
has: leveled off over: the.
past three years at about -
11,000. complaints © after -

dramatic increases-in 1981

- and 1982. Owen appears
to have adopted a lower-
key approach than -pre-

decessor Karl Friedmann,

as shown by the number
of reports filed with

government bodies in
-1985 Friedmann, - along
with: his interim successor
Peter: Bazowski, filed /13
reports to Cabinet, 7
reports to the legislature

and.one public report;.in . .
1986 Owen filed.two

Cabinet reports.

report indicate activity in

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