Our Office received a complaint from a person who was removed from the Township of Alberton’s May 11, 2022 hybrid council meeting because they refused to identify themselves on Zoom. The Township has a requirement that all attendees of council meetings, whether in person or virtual, must identify themselves. The purpose of this requirement in the context of virtual council meetings is to prevent “Zoom bombings,” in which uninvited individuals join a meeting and act in a disruptive manner. The Ombudsman found that by removing the complainant from the meeting on May 11, 2022, the Township illegally closed the meeting to the public. Municipalities have an obligation to ensure that members of the public can freely access and observe open meetings and must be careful about placing conditions on their ability to do so. While not all such conditions will necessarily be a violation of the open meeting rules, in this case, requiring the public identification of all attendees was an overly intrusive measure that was not proportionate to the objective of preventing “Zoom bombings.” Technological options exist that would permit the public to access and observe the Township’s meetings virtually without being able to interrupt.
Township of Alberton, July 12, 2023
Read the ReportThe Township of Alberton has a requirement that all members of the public attending its open council meetings, whether in person or virtually, must identify themselves for the purpose of the minutes. Our Office received a complaint from a person who was removed from the Township’s May 11, 2022 hybrid council meeting because they refused to identify themselves on Zoom. The Ombudsman concluded that by removing this person from the meeting on May 11, 2022, the Township contravened the open meeting rules. Municipalities have an obligation to ensure that members of the public can freely access and observe open meetings and must be careful about placing conditions on their ability to do so. Under the Municipal Act, 2001, it is council that has the obligation and responsibility of transparency, not members of the public who attend to observe open meetings.