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André Marin LLB (born January 12, 1965) is a former Crown Attorney, provincial ombudsman of Ontario, and government employee in Canada.

Career

André Marin worked as an assistant Crown attorney and a part-time professor of law in Ottawa, Canada.

From September 1996 until June 1998, he served as the Director of Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU). During his tenure at the SIU, the office initiated over 300 investigations, laid 5 charges resulting from those investigations and obtained no convictions. Marin was sued twice by police officers for malicious prosecution.

In June 1998, André Marin was appointed as Canada’s first military ombudsman for complaints from members of the Canadian Armed Forces. A 2006 report for the Canadian Department of National Defence found Marin had created a dysfunctional workplace at his office during his tenure, with multiple complaints and staff departures.

Ombudsman of Ontario

On April 1, 2005 Marin was appointed as Ombudsman of Ontario by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. On June 1, 2010, he was reappointed to a second five-year term ending on May 31, 2015.

Human Rights complaints

In 2010, Toronto Star (the Star) investigated human rights and labour complaints made by staff under Andre Marin’s tenure. Current and former staff members complained of a culture of fear and harassment, similar to the staff complaints appearing in the workplace assessment report on Marin after he left the role of Canadian Military Ombudsman in 2006. Due to the number of complaints, the employee union hired an external investigator to interview over 25 employees on instances of discrimination due to race, gender and disability, harassment and forced terminations. A number of complaints were filed against the ombudsman, the office and his management team with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT) and the union.

Controversy over expenses

Controversy erupted when it became public knowledge that Marin had rewarded, "friends" with important contracts. In addition, expenses Marin billed to taxpayers during one of his terms as provincial ombudsman were later publicized. Expenses included his personal grooming products, a $38 toothbrush and a $2,000 for a flat screen TV for his Ottawa home. A claim that Marin used the office's corporate services director to pick-up his dry cleaning and keep an eye on Marin’s maid when she cleaned his Toronto condo, a claim which Marin refuted.

In April 2015, Marin’s expenses came under scrutiny again when Marin had billed Ontario taxpayers an average of $14,800 in three months for housing expenses so he could maintain residences in both Toronto and Ottawa, sometimes spending more than $2,000 a month in rent while in Toronto. It is estimated Marin billed taxpayers $592,000 in housing since being appointed in 2005.

Lobby Controversy

On May 28, 2015 the Ontario Legislature voted to extend Marin's term as ombudsman until September 14, 2015 to allow him to wrap-up investigations. Over 60 people applied to become Ontario's next ombudsman, including Marin and outgoing Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean.

During the social media publicity that followed, Marin's communications staff used the official Ontario Ombudsman twitter account to re-tweet support and attacks aimed at the Liberal government and Premier Wynne by attacking and blocking opponents. Followers and the media reacted with shock, anger, and disapproval when a sarcastic comment was tweeted under the assumed authority of Marin and aimed at Globe & Mail columnist Adam Radwanski's late father after Radwanski commented that his Twitter feed was being clogged tweets aimed at Marin.

Concerns were raised about Marin's judgement and objectivity when tweets were made from the Ontario Ombudsman Twitter account, calling Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government a “banana republic” and another tweet which asked “Who's more corrupt and needs ovesight, FIFA or @Kathleen_Wynne?” Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario New Democrats was the only MPP to support Marin's Twitter use.

Extending term

On May 28, 2015 the Ontario Legislature voted to extend Marin's term as ombudsman until September 14, 2015 to allow him to wrap-up investigations. Over 60 people applied to become Ontario's next ombudsman, including Marin and outgoing Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean.

End of tenure as Ombudsman

On September 14, 2015, a motion to grant Marin a second extension was defeated in the Legislature, bringing his tenure to an end.

References

1. ^ Canadian Who’s Who 2011. Orillia, Ontario: Third Sector Publishing. 2011. p. 792. ISBN 978-0-921173-27-4.
2. ^ Hyson, Stewart, ed. (2009). Provincial and Territorial Ombudsman Offices in Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-4426-4067-2.
3. "Ontario ombudsman wrong person to lead SIU probe, critics say". National Post.
4. Bruser, David; Welsh, Moira (June 2, 2010). "André Marin left dysfunction and discontent as military ombud". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2015-03-06. Retrieved February 28, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. ^ Howlett, Karen; Radawanski, Adam (August 23, 2012). "Tables are turned as Ontario Ombudsman's expenses come under scrutiny". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 4 February 2015. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |title= at position 8 (help) Cite error: The named reference "Tables Turned" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. "Public Sector Salary Disclosure 2009". Ontario Ministry of Finance. Ontario Ministry of Finance. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
7. Bruser, David (July 11, 2010). "André Marin gave contracts to friend starting in 2001". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
8. Csanady, Ashley (22 April 2015). "Why are taxpayers forking over hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Ontario ombudsman's pricey commute?". National Post. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
9. Ferguson, Rob (May 28, 2015). "Ontario ombudsman André Marin's job extended". Toronto Star. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
10. "Motion to extend Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin's term denied". City News. Sep 14, 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.

External links

• Franco-Ontarian people
• Ontario civil servants
• Canadian ombudsmen
• 1965 births
• Living people
• University of Ottawa alumni
• Canadian lawyers