The Ombudsman found that the Municipality of West Elgin did not provide meaningful notice of its council meetings on September 22, September 28, and October 16, 2023, as the meetings were advertised as hybrid or electronic only, but no link was provided for the public to access the livestream of the meetings. This resulted in the meetings being effectively closed to the public contrary to the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001.
The Ombudsman found that the Municipality of West Elgin’s emergency council meeting held on September 22, 2023 did not meet the criteria under the municipality’s procedural by-law for an emergency meeting and therefore public notice was required. In addition, the Ombudsman found that the municipality did not provide meaningful notice, as the meeting was advertised as electronic but no link was provided for the public to access a livestream of the meeting. This resulted in the meeting being effectively closed to the public contrary to the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001.
The Ombudsman found that the Township of McGarry provided adequate notice for an emergency meeting of council on September 1, 2023 regarding the resignation of the former mayor, in accordance with its procedure by-law.
The Ombudsman received a complaint that the public notice for a meeting of the Corporate and Finance Services Committee of the City of Oshawa was temporarily unavailable on the City’s website. As a best practice, the Ombudsman recommended that the City remain vigilant to promptly identify any technological issue affecting the posting of its public notices.
The Ombudsman found that council for the Township of Sables-Spanish Rivers did not contravene the Municipal Act, 2001 on July 26 and August 9, 2023, when the Township did not list the closed sessions on the agendas. The Ombudsman noted that the closed sessions were not initially planned, and the Act does not require municipalities to provide advance notice of the matters to be discussed in closed session.
The Ombudsman found that the Town of Midland, the Town of Penetanguishene, and the Township of Tiny contravened the open meeting rules under their respective procedure by-laws when the municipalities failed to provide updated public notice regarding the changed electronic location for a meeting of the Huronia Airport Task Force on April 19, 2022, and also failed to record minutes of that meeting.
The Ombudsman found that the Town of Midland, the Town of Penetanguishene, and the Township of Tiny contravened the open meeting rules under their respective procedure by-laws when the municipalities failed to provide updated public notice regarding the changed electronic location for a meeting of the Huronia Airport Task Force on April 19, 2022, and also failed to record minutes of that meeting.
The Ombudsman found that the Town of Midland, the Town of Penetanguishene, and the Township of Tiny contravened the open meeting rules under their respective procedure by-laws when the municipalities failed to provide updated public notice regarding the changed electronic location for a meeting of the Huronia Airport Task Force on April 19, 2022, and also failed to record minutes of that meeting.
Municipality of Callander - September 20, 2023
The Municipality of Callander acknowledged that, due to an oversight, notice of a training session held by the Committee of Adjustment was not provided in accordance with the procedure by-law and terms of reference. The Municipality has since posted a calendar at the municipal office that provides notice of this Committee’s meetings. The Municipality also amended its website to remove outdated information and correctly reflect when several committees (the Culture, Heritage and Tourism Committee; the Events Committee; and the Implementation and Beautification Advisory Committee) meet. The Municipality also began consistently posting notice of meetings on its online portal and at the municipal office. The Ombudsman determined that it was unnecessary to proceed with an investigation, given the steps that the Municipality took to address the concerns raised.
The Ombudsman found that council for the Municipality of Calvin contravened the Municipal Act, 2001 when it provided inconsistent information on its website about how the public could access its May 10, 2022 electronic council meeting.
The Ombudsman found that council for the Municipality of Calvin contravened the Municipal Act, 2001 by failing to provide the public with proper notice of and information about how to access its June 14, 2022 electronic council meeting. Although the Municipality posted a link to the electronic meeting partway through the meeting, the public was unable to observe the entire meeting in real time, and the meeting was therefore effectively closed to the public contrary to the Act.
The Ombudsman found that the Town of Huntsville’s General Committee did not contravene the Municipal Act, 2001 with regard to the information provided on its agenda for a closed session scheduled for the September 28, 2022 meeting, as the Act does not require municipalities to provide advance notice of the matters to be discussed in closed session. The Ombudsman noted that it is a best practice to provide the public with sufficiently meaningful information on public agendas regarding the planned topic(s) of discussion in closed session.
The Ombudsman found that the Hamilton Waterfront Trust is a local board of the City, and is therefore subject to the open meeting rules of the Municipal Act, 2001. For the period of April 2020 to February 2021, members of the public were not permitted to attend the meetings of Waterfront Trust’s Board of Trustees held electronically. Beginning in April 2021, after this concern was raised with the City and the Board, the Board began to comply with the open meeting rules, including providing adequate public notice and ensuring that the public could observe meetings in progress.
The Ombudsman found that council for the Township of McKellar contravened the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001 by posting contradictory public notices about the time and location of the electronic meeting on September 9, 2021.
The Ombudsman found that council for the Township of McKellar contravened the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001 by posting contradictory public notices about the location of the meeting on April 12, 2022.
The Ombudsman found that the City of Sault Ste. Marie’s Cultural Vitality Committee contravened the Municipal Act, 2001 on November 17, 2021, by holding a meeting that did not comply with the open meeting requirements. The Ombudsman found that the meeting was not open to the public, as the Committee did not provide the public with information about how to attend the virtual meeting. The Ombudsman also found that the City of Sault Ste. Marie’s Tourism Board contravened the Municipal Act, 2001 on November 25, 2021 by holding a meeting that did not comply with the open meeting requirements. The meeting was not open to the public, as the Board did not provide the public with information on how to attend the virtual meeting.
The Ombudsman reviewed a complaint that raised concerns relating to public notice for meetings held by council for the City of Brockville on October 13 and October 18, 2021. Although public notice for the meetings was posted on the City’s website, the Ombudsman found that council did not comply with subsection 238(2.1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 on October 13 and October 18, 2021 because its procedure by-law fails to provide for public notice about the calling, place and proceedings of special meetings.
The Ombudsman reviewed electronic meetings held by the Saugeen Municipal Airport Commission. The Ombudsman found that the Commission is a local board subject to the open meeting rules. The Commission contravened the Municipal Act, 2001 by failing to pass a procedure by-law governing its meetings and failing to provide adequate notice of its meetings. The Ombudsman further found that the Commission did not adequately notify members of the public about how to request readmission to the portion of an open meeting following a closed session. The Ombudsman commended the Commission’s efforts to increase transparency through changes to its public notice process and adoption of a formal procedure to ensure that observers are adequately informed about how to observe portions of a meeting occurring after a closed session. The Ombudsman recommended that the Commission adopt a procedure by-law providing for public notice of all meetings and that the Commission ensure the public is able to observe all open portions of meetings.
The Ombudsman investigated the meeting practices of the Greater Napanee BIA and found that the Greater Napanee BIA provides notice of its board meetings via an email distribution list. The Greater Napanee BIA does not post notice of its board meetings on the BIA’s or the municipality’s website, or in any other public fashion. Going forward, the Ombudsman recommended that the Greater Napanee BIA should ensure that it provides notice to the general public for each of its board meetings, as required by the Municipal Act, 2001.
The Ombudsman received a complaint about a special meeting held by the Municipality of Lambton Shores on April 15, 2019. The complaint alleged the public did not receive notice for the special meeting held by council at 12:00 p.m. The municipality posted the public notice for the special meeting on April 14 at 6:40 p.m. on the municipality’s website, in accordance with its procedure by-law. The municipality’s procedure by-law allowed for public notice of special meetings to be provided “as soon as practical.” The Ombudsman provided best practice suggestions related to the procedure by-law and requiring a public notice period for special meetings.