Toronto’s ombudsman will hang on to her job, but not for as long as originally expected.
Toronto City Council voted Tuesday evening to renew Fiona Crean’s contract after her current term expires next year. However a motion moved by Mayor Rob Ford sliced the length of the renewed term from an additional five years to just two.
“Council has spoken-renewed for 2 years until nov 2015 not 5. Lots of files to get back to,” Crean wrote on her Twitter page Tuesday night.
Crean is currently in the fourth year of a five-year term. Tuesday’s vote on whether to renew her contract is part of a regular review process that occurs at the end of the ombudsman’s fourth year.
Mayor Rob Ford said Tuesday that rumours he’s looking to get rid of Crean are false, despite the fact she has been critical of the mayor recently, releasing a report stating that he inappropriately interfered in the political appointments process at city hall.
“The rumour is we’re getting rid of her today – that’s not true,” Ford said Tuesday before council debated the matter behind closed doors.
Others, like councillor Giorgio Mammoliti have said they would like to see Crean go. Allies of the mayor have accused Crean of launching politically motivated investigations of the mayor’s actions.
Crean is Toronto’s first ombudswoman, a position created under the City of Toronto Act to make sure that residents have an impartial place to seek resolution of city matters. She was appointed to the job by city council in November 2008.
