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Two Francophone students from Northern Ontario reached out to us with concerns about the quality of the French version of the accreditation exam for emergency medical care assistants.

A Franco-Torontonian reached out to let us know that content on Infrastructure Ontario’s X account (@InfraOntario) about plans for an upcoming spa, water park and multi-storey parking garage at Ontario Place was only available in English.

A Francophone reached out to us because he was unable to find French versions of posts on the social media accounts of Lotto Max (Facebook, Instagram and X).

A Francophone filed a complaint about an announcement of a public consultation on the reform of housing industry regulations posted to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery’s French LinkedIn page.

A Francophone municipal employee in Eastern Ontario was invited to take part in an English-only survey on the quality of municipal and provincial emergency management programs.

Commissioner's Message - Tangible results: I am pleased to present the 2022-2023 Annual Report of the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario. The Commissioner plays an important role in supporting Ontario’s Francophone community, and is responsible for monitoring compliance with the French Language Services Act and recommending ways to improve the delivery of government services in French.

The Ombudsman received a complaint that council for the Town of Grimsby contravened the open meeting rules when it held a closed meeting on February 21, 2023.

The Ombudsman received complaints that a closed meeting of council for the County of Haliburton did not fit into the closed meeting exceptions. The Ombudsman found that the closed meeting did not fit into the exceptions for matters under another Act or information supplied in confidence by a third party. However, a portion of the closed session discussion fit within the exception for advice subject to solicitor-client privilege.

The Ombudsman received a complaint that a meeting of the City of Hamilton’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Sub-Committee did not livestream a meeting to the public.

The Ombudsman received complaints about a secret call held by members of council for the Municipality of Casselman on January 26, 2021. An audio recording of the call was inadvertently published on the Municipality’s website and the complainants were concerned that the discussion during the call advanced council business and constituted an illegal closed meeting under the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman’s investigation found that a quorum of council for the Municipality of Casselman materially advanced matters that constituted council business during the call, that it constituted a “meeting” under the Municipal Act, 2001, and was a very serious violation of the open meeting rules.

The Ombudsman reviewed a complaint about a gathering held by members of the Community and Protective Services Committee of the City of London on March 21, 2023. The complaint alleged that a quorum of the committee held a tour with the Executive Director of a local non-profit organization and expressed concern that, a few hours later, the committee held a formal meeting, during which it voted to recommend approving conditional funding for the non-profit. The Ombudsman found that the gathering constituted an illegal meeting under the open meeting rules, as a quorum of the committee was present and committee business was materially advanced during the gathering. The Ombudsman noted that the information received by committee members during the gathering could reasonably be construed as having informed their decision-making. The Ombudsman recommended that members who organize tours that may be subject to the open meeting rules should consult with City staff.

The Ombudsman reviewed a complaint about a gathering of a quorum of members of council for the Township of Morley on December 14, 2022. The complaint alleged that the gathering was a meeting that did not comply with the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman found that that the Township of Morley contravened the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001 on December 14, 2022. The members of council, who also comprised a quorum of the Roads and Public Utilities Standing Committee, held a discussion in a Township garage with a member of staff regarding snowplowing operations and materially advanced the Township’s business and decision-making. In failing to treat the gathering as a meeting subject to the open meeting rules, the Township of Morley contravened the open meeting requirements of the Municipal Act, 2001.

The Ombudsman reviewed a complaint regarding two closed meetings held by council for the Township of Sables-Spanish Rivers on July 26 and August 9, 2023.

The Ombudsman reviewed a complaint that council for the Municipality of Brockton contravened the open meeting rules on February 14, 2023 when it discussed a partnership proposal during a closed session. The Ombudsman found that discussions about the partnership proposal did not fit within the exception for information supplied in confidence because the information discussed was not supplied confidentially and the reasonable expectation of harm was not clearly established. As a best practice, the Ombudsman recommended that, before relying on the exception for information supplied in confidence, the Municipality should confirm with the third party whether or not the information was supplied in confidence, and, where appropriate, inquire into what concrete harms could be expected if the information was disclosed publicly.  

Shortly before the day of the October 2022 municipal election, several voters in one municipality complained to us that their mail-in ballots arrived too late.

Three residents told us that construction near their homes had caused their wells to dry up.

A woman reached out to us because her family’s subsidized housing unit was uninhabitable after a fire.

A woman complained to us about how her municipality handled her request to convert a shipping container into a garden shed.

The Ombudsman received complaints about meetings held by the Committee of Adjustment; the Culture, Heritage and Tourism Committee; the Events Committee; and the Implementation and Beautification Advisory Committee in the Municipality of Callander.

The Ombudsman investigated a complaint about a closed meeting held on February 6, 2019 by the General Issues Committee of the City of Hamilton. The discussion in closed session related to a consultant’s report from November 20, 2013 that found that there were low levels of friction on the Red Hill Valley Parkway. The complaint alleged that the Committee breached the open meeting rules when it misrepresented a four-part PowerPoint presentation as a single item, and that some of the content did not fit within the exceptions of the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman concluded that the Committee did not contravene the open meeting requirements under the Municipal Act, 2001, as the in camera discussion was permissible under the Act. However, to improve the accountability and transparency of its meetings, the Ombudsman made best practice suggestions relating to the Committee’s closed meeting procedures.