Ex-ombudsman hired back by province to tackle homelessness

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This article was published 25/03/2025 (197 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After leaving the Manitoba government for the private sector, a former ombudsman and civil service commissioner is back for more — in what may be her toughest role yet.

Charlene Paquin began work as deputy minister of housing, addictions and homelessness on Monday, a cabinet order in council said.

Her boss, minister Bernadette Smith, has a politically sensitive mandate that includes carrying out a strategy to end chronic homelessness and establish a supervised consumption site.

“While these are tough issues and complex issues, they are so very important for Manitoba and Manitobans,” said Paquin, who left her job at Deloitte to return to the government.

“None of these issues are singularly focused in one place. They cross a lot of different sectors,” said Paquin, who touted her experience working across government departments, different communities and the civil service.

Her background will help her do a job that requires co-operation and co-ordination, she said.

“Building off of those relationships, in the community, with First Nations communities, those are all really critical,” said Paquin, who has a master’s degree in social work. She was an assistant deputy minister from 2010 to 2015 and was Manitoba ombudsman from 2015 to 2018.

“I’m just really excited to be a part of that,” she said. “I came back because the public sector is in my bones. It’s my calling,” said the woman who was civil service commissioner from 2018 to 2022.

She’s worked as a public servant under NDP and Tory governments and for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Paquin replaces Catherine Gates, who retired as deputy minister.

Smith said housing, addictions and homelessness is “a really fast-moving department” with big plans underway.

“We needed someone with lots of experience who could just pick up the baton — someone who could just come in and knows the civil service, has been in government and knows how the government works,” the minister said Tuesday.

Paquin’s experience and knowledge will help Smith, who is in charge of some “politically sensitive and controversial files,” said veteran political observer Paul Thomas.

“It is a difficult job because the issues are high-profile, divisive and emotional,” the University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus said.

“Minister Smith has been under attack by the opposition recently on the matters of location of a safe consumption site and the shutting down of homelessness encampments. She is one of the few NDP ministers who has been the target of a sustained siege campaign in (question period),” said Thomas, who noted that the premier decides who serves as minister and deputy minister.

Smith, he said, “is coping with serious social problems with probably not enough resources.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca