Finance committee  I think generally speaking an ombudsman is a dispute resolution tool that offers an objective look at a situation. Our service is geared towards the banks. We are governed by the FCAC. We have strict parameters and terms of reference. There's a health ombudsman.... I think the om

Finance committee  An ombudsman has the power of persuasion, has the power of public relations, as it were. We would post that. I think banks are very sensitive to the idea that they're publicly told that their decisions are wrong. Having said that, we can enforce a recommendation, in that if it's

Finance committee  Correct.

Finance committee  The customer knows about us through the bank's complaint handling system. What all customers are advised is that if they have an issue at the bank, first they have to go to the person they were dealing with, and then the manager, customer care, and then finally the bank ombudsman

Finance committee  Our most common resolution...?

Finance committee  Sure. There are different categories. One could be just customer service, so people are unhappy with how they were treated, or if they feel they were treated unfairly. We also deal a fair bit with mortgages. If people want to end their mortgage early, a lot of people aren't aware

Finance committee  Sure. How we're structured I think allows us to be independent. First of all, we go by the ombudsman standards, of which impartiality and independence are a part. We also have investigators and we review all of the matters. We have discretion when it comes to intake. We also have

Finance committee  I didn't see anything in the new act that would change that. Unfortunately, I wasn't here to hear the comments. I'm not sure if there was anything specific. I would be more than happy to address it. If anything, we see what was in the regulation now being codified in the law, so

Finance committee  I think with any independent body.... There are two different ombudspeople, and I think our work is pretty transparent. I think our methodology is pretty transparent. I guess part of the challenge is that there aren't that many service providers that are offering this. In my exp

Finance committee  No, of course.

Finance committee  Thank you. My name is Marshall Schnapp. I'm the ombudsman for ADR Chambers, and we're the external complaints body that RBC, TD and DC Bank use. I don't have any specific comments on the bill, but I would say that what the legislation does for external complaints bodies is curre