The complaint: Jess was trying to secure a mineral claim through the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. When the claim was made public, Jess secured the claim, received confirmation and paid the fee. A few hours later she received a notification saying an error had occurred and all claims registered were revoked. She tried again two days later and the same thing happened.

Jess tried again when the claim was re-released for a third time. After submitting the claim, the ministry’s website crashed and she received an error message. She relaunched the website and the claim had been sold to someone else.
Frustrated by her experience, Jess contacted us for help.

What we did: We investigated to see whether the ministry followed a fair process in determining the ownership of the claim.
We learned that the ministry was experiencing several issues with its online claims process. The ministry was taking steps to address these issues, including developing a policy for claim releases and investigating and addressing the problems that led to the website crash. It also committed to adding more IT resources. We were still concerned about the ministry’s communications with Jess. She was not informed about the option to appeal the decision.

How we helped: The ministry wrote to Jess and explained the issues with the online claims process, and the steps it had taken to address each issue. The ministry also updated its website with information about appeals so individuals know what options are available should they disagree with the outcome or decision.

Why it matters: Keeping individuals like Jess informed about the steps taken to resolve a complaint is a key component of fairness.