Closed Meeting Complaints Procedure

Closed meeting

The province of Ontario, through the Municipal Act, 2001, defines when a council, local board or a committee is permitted to go into a closed meeting. Closed meetings are part of good government when these rules are honoured. The purpose of a closed meeting is for Council to receive information or give direction to staff on the following specific topics:

1. The security of the property of the municipality or local board;
2. Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees;
3. A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board;
4. Labour relations or employee negotiations;
5. Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
6. Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
7. A matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another act;
8. The meeting is held for the purposed of educating or training the members and at the meeting, no member discusses or otherwise deals with any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board or committee.
9. Information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them;
10. A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization;
11. A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value; and
12. A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

As well, a meeting shall be closed to the public if the subject matter relates to the consideration of a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act if the Council is the head of the institution for the purposes of the Act.

Investigations of closed meetings

Members of the public, including corporations, may request that an investigation be undertaken respecting whether the Council of the County of Frontenac or one of its local boards or committees has complied with closed meeting rules as outlined in the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, or the County's procedural by-law during the closed part of a meeting.

The County of Frontenac, through Local Authority Services Ltd. (LAS) has retained the services of Amberley Gavel Ltd., as its Closed Meeting Investigator and has authorized it to conduct any investigations arising from a complaint with respect to meetings or parts of meetings that are closed to the public. The Closed Meeting Investigator will determine compliance with the Municipal Act and/or the County of Frontenac Procedural By-law and will report on the results of such investigations. The Act provides that, when the investigation is completed, if the Investigator is of the opinion that the meeting was closed to the public contrary to the Act or the procedure by-law, such opinion shall be reported, with or without recommendations, to County Council. Council shall ensure that any such report is made available to the public.

This applies to the County Council and it's Advisory Committees (150^th Anniversary Planning Advisory Committee, Trails Advisory Committee, Sustainability Advisory Committee, the Joint Frontenac Accessibility Advisory Committee, the Seniors Housing Task Force and others as they are established).

Complaints procedure

Members of the public, including corporations, may submit complaints to the investigator relating to compliance with the Act or the Municipal Procedural By-law for meetings or part of meetings that are closed to the public. All complaints will be treated as confidential at all times.

Complaints shall be submitted to the Ombudsman electronically at www.ombudsman.on.ca ; by telephone at 1-800-263-1830; by fax at 416-586-3485; by mail at Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario, Bell Trinity Square, 483 Bay Street, 10th Floor, South Tower, Toronto ON M5G 2C9.

The complaint form may be downloaded from the Ombudsman's Website at www.ombudsman.on.ca.