Quebec Ombudsperson Marc-André Dowd warned in September 2024 that some public services were becoming detached from the people they were created to help. His annual report used investigated cases—not a claim about every public employee—to show how routine procedures can erode dignity and accountability.
The report centred vulnerable residents
The Protecteur du citoyen is an independent institution that examines complaints involving provincial departments, agencies, correctional services and the health and social-services network. Its services are free, and its findings can lead public bodies to correct failures.
Dowd said institutions must remain focused on people’s actual needs.
A long-term-care example illustrated the warning
During an investigation at a CHSLD residential and long-term-care centre, observers saw attendants helping residents eat while talking among themselves as a television played loudly. The residents received food, but not the attentive, humane interaction expected in a living environment.
The ombudsperson obtained corrective action and cautioned against generalizing to all staff.
Formal eligibility can still produce an inhumane result
Other cases showed people being reduced to programme categories or clinical profiles. A rule may be applied correctly on paper while leaving an older, disabled or dying person without practical help.
The report’s message was that discretion and responsibility should not disappear behind an administrative checklist.
Demand reached a record level
The office processed 24,867 grounds for requests in 2023–24, up from 22,053 the previous year. Of the total, 13,358 concerned bodies within its investigative jurisdiction and 11,509 were referrals or information requests.
The caseload included public administration, corrections, health and social services, and public-integrity disclosures.
Outsourcing did not remove government responsibility
The report also examined services delivered by outside providers. One traveller waited about two years while an accounting firm handled reimbursement applications for a consumer-protection fund after pandemic cancellations.
Dowd’s office reminded the agency that contracting out work did not contract out accountability for timeliness or quality.
System pressure helps explain, but not excuse, failures
Staff shortages, complex demand and limited resources can make services impersonal. Those constraints require better triage, training and staffing rather than acceptance that vulnerable people will be ignored.
Managers must examine outcomes as well as whether a form or task was completed.
The evidence was more nuanced than a blanket indictment
The ombudsperson said public organizations generally cooperated and often agreed to improvements after investigations. The report highlighted failures because complaint oversight is designed to find and correct them.
Its cases therefore should not be used to portray every worker as uncaring.
Accountability requires follow-through
Useful reforms include measuring delays, allowing staff to flag exceptional hardship, protecting time for human interaction and reporting whether recommendations were implemented. People must also receive clear reasons and a route to challenge decisions.
The warning was ultimately about public purpose: rising demand cannot turn residents into files. Quebec institutions remain responsible for delivering lawful services in a way that recognizes the dignity, circumstances and voice of each person.
Annual follow-up should test whether corrections endured and whether the same complaint pattern returned elsewhere.
