City of Hamilton

City of Hamilton

January 18, 2023

18 January 2023

The Ombudsman received a complaint alleging that the City of Hamilton’s Working Group of the Physician Recruitment and Retention Steering Committee violated the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001 when it held meetings on January 12, September 14, October 14, October 29, November 23, and December 14, 2021.

The Ombudsman received a complaint alleging that the City of Hamilton’s Working Group of the Physician Recruitment and Retention Steering Committee violated the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001 when it held meetings on January 12, September 14, October 14, October 29, November 23, and December 14, 2021. The complaint alleged that the meetings were improperly closed to the public because there was no notice of the meetings, the public could not attend the meetings, and the meeting agendas and minutes were not public.

The Ombudsman found that the Working Group is not a committee, and is therefore not subject to the open meeting rules of the Municipal Act, 2001. Accordingly, the Working Group did not contravene the Act when it met in closed session.

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