Ontario’s ombudsman has confirmed three problems and issued three recommendations to the municipality after getting complaints about Norfolk Council holding inappropriate closed door meetings.
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Norfolk doesn’t fully agree with Paul Dubé opinion but said it will address the report next Tuesday at a council-in-committee meeting, saying it’s open to making meetings more transparent and effective.
“While Norfolk may not agree with the conclusions,” said CAO Al Meneses, “we accept the findings and recommendations and will endeavor to continue to do better.”
One of the in-camera meetings criticized by Dube involved a discussion about a new mobile sign purchased by the county.
In that Jan. 9 special council meeting, councilors discussed the feedback they were receiving from the community, including hints of a lawsuit.
“The CAO clarified he was unaware of (any potential litigation) but feared discussing the subject in open session could lead to lawsuits,” said Dubé.
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The ombudsman ruled a council has to believe that litigation is a reasonable prospect in order to go in camera.
“Council’s belief that the municipality might face litigation was based primarily on social media comments and second-hand information.”
Council was asked to submit feedback to the ombudsman’s report and registered it’s disagreement with his decision about that meeting, saying the risk of a lawsuit was real and not speculative.
“However my review of the evidence indicates that council’s discussion did not fit within the exception,” said Dubé.
But council agreed to ensure it follows the ombudsman’s recommendations in the future and to publish the report on its website.
The ombudsman’s recommendations were:
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** Council should be vigilant in complying with the Municipal Act when it comes to in-camera meetings.
** Council should be clear about a statutory exception to open meeting requirements in order to go in camera.
** Council should provide a general description for the public for any issue being discussed in camera.
Norfolk council has struggled with this issue in the past.
The ombudsman has received and rejected other complaints about in-camera meetings and council has made adjustments in order to stay in compliance
For at least four years, council has been recording in camera meetings in order to have a record in case of complaints.
In 2016 and 2021, Dubé urged the council to follow “best practices” by publicizing the reason they’re going behind closed doors.
Dubé also looked at complaints about council meetings on Feb 14 and Nov. 15 in 2023 and meetings in Jan 16 of this year.
As a result, Dubé’s office found that council breached the rules on Nov 15 and Jan 16 by discussing issues in private that didn’t fall within the exceptions to the open meeting rules.
But a Feb 14/23 meeting, where advisors needed to talk about cyber insurance on a particular property was OK.
@EXPSGamble
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