Humanizing Government Services: Using Alternative Dispute Resolution to Enhance Satisfaction with Government Services
HLOs: 
By Casey Vaillancourt, Alternative Dispute Resolution graduate
One of the lasting concepts that resonated with Casey Vaillancourt while studying in the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program was access to justice, both in legal and government services. Whereas these services are typically gatekept, slow, rendered using labyrinthine language, and prohibitively costly, the cause of access to justice seeks to make these same services more accessible and better serve their users, rather than their gatekeepers.
After graduating in 2022 and completing his internship under a Human Rights and Employment lawyer, Casey began his career with the Ontario Public Service by working as a Call Centre Representative at Tribunals Ontario, answering inquiries from both landlords and tenants about their rights and offering resolution methods to their disputes. This role was tantamount to a baptism by fire, as there was widespread discontent among users of the Landlord and Tenant Board. Casey nonetheless contributed to access to justice by informing disputants not only of their rights, but by using accessible language to help disputants prepare for and self-represent at their hearings, helping avoid the steep cost of retainers. Casey also used his understanding of interests, power levers, and the law to illustrate settlement options that disputants could use to agreeably resolve their conflict.
Since this role, ADR has continued to be the foremost skillset that Casey has implemented to excel in various Ontario Public Service roles. Casey again found himself working on a hot-button issue, getting to work within immigration, working as an Investigator/ Analyst at the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. In his current role working as a Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Advisor with the Treasury Board Secretariat, Casey applies a hybrid of negotiating skills (interviewing disputing parties with active listening skills, de-escalation techniques, and negotiating consensus among Human Resources partners) as well as administrative justice skills. These opportunities have not only provided depth to Casey’s existing ADR skills but have broadened his skillset to include investigating.
Casey emphasizes that Alternative Dispute Resolution has not only assisted him in being effective in his roles, but has also helped him do so to the satisfaction of others. Access to justice is not only a means of resolving most expeditiously and cost-effectively, but is also a means of helping its stakeholders understand its procedures, outcomes, and rationales. “Sometimes people who are reliant on government services encounter procedures and decisions that can seem arcane or mechanical, and I’ve witnessed this frustrate many people," says Casey. "Using clear, accessible language to describe procedures to stakeholders helps them ‘play by the rules’ and gives them a fair shot when applying to government services. This should be the minimal service standard provided when someone is trying to represent themselves, whether before a tribunal, a government agency, or in an HR investigation, because the outcomes of these decisions can affect the trajectory of someone’s life.”
Casey encourages incoming and current students of the ADR program to take a deep dive into their studies. “Getting to set aside 8 months to rigorously study Alternative Dispute Resolution provides a unique opportunity- it’s time to hone your emotional intelligence while also becoming a more pragmatic decision maker. It’s a time to re-habitualize how you think and speak, so take the time to study, prepare, and execute.” Casey acknowledges his training with Humber’s high-calibre industry professionals as instrumental to the successive years of his life.
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