Sandy Hermiston
Sandy Hermiston has extensive experience in ombuds practice and whistleblower protection. In 2014, she began to focus on these aspects of the law when she became General Counsel to the Ombudsman and Public Interest Commissioner in Alberta. From there, she was appointed as the first Ombudsman of the Cayman Islands in 2017 where she was responsible for consolidating the existing Office of the Information Commissioner and Office of the Complaints Commissioner. In that role, she implemented the new data protection legislation, a police conduct complaints system, and a whistleblower protection regime.
In February 2022, Sandy was appointed the first Ombudsperson and Public Interest Disclosure Commissioner for Prince Edward Island. OmbudsPEI has already had a significant impact on improving fairness in public services on the island. The office’s innovative work in resolving complaints informally and writing succinct investigation reports has attracted national attention.
Sandy is co-course director at Osgoode Hall Law School’s Professional Development Certificate in Advanced Issues in Ombuds Practice where she shares her expertise in ombuds work with national and international participants. She is also a regular speaker at national conferences for ombuds practice.
She has more than 35 years of experience as a lawyer, most of which has been spent in the public service. Prior to her ombuds work, she served as General Counsel to an administrative tribunal in Alberta where she gained expertise in administrative law and procedural fairness appearing at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, in applications for judicial review.
Sandy possesses a broad understanding and knowledge of public administration as well as government structures and functions having worked in Ontario, the Northwest Territories, Alberta, the Cayman Islands, and Prince Edward Island.
In her private life, Sandy spent twenty years volunteering with parasport organizations provincially, nationally and internationally. She received volunteer recognition from Sport Alberta in 2017 and was inducted into the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association’s Hall of Fame as a builder in 2022.