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The Ombudsman investigated a joint meeting held by the councils for the Town of Grimsby, the Town of Lincoln and the Township of West Lincoln. A single set of minutes was recorded during the meeting by one of the municipal clerks, however prior to the meeting, the other municipal clerks did not provide written delegations of their duty to take minutes as required by the Municipal Act, 2001.
The Ombudsman found that the Municipality of Calvin contravened both the Municipal Act, 2001 and its procedural by-law in not having someone clerk or record minutes of meetings held by the Ad Hoc Code of Conduct Working Group and Ad Hoc Municipal Planning Working Group.
The Ombudsman reviewed two complaints about an emergency closed meeting held by council for the Township of Prince. The Ombudsman determined that even though the Township of Prince resolved to appoint a temporary Clerk for the emergency closed meeting, it did not pass a confirming by-law to ratify this resolution.
The Ombudsman reviewed a meeting of council for the Township of Tehkummah. During the closed session, the clerk left the meeting room, and no closed meeting minutes were taken. The Ombudsman found that the municipality failed to fulfill its statutory obligation to record council’s proceedings. The Ombudsman recommended that the township ensure that both open and closed session minutes are kept of all meetings of council, local boards, and committees. The Ombudsman also recommended that meeting records are complete and accurately reflect all of the substantive and procedural items that were discussed, and that meetings are audio and/or video recorded.
The Ombudsman reviewed two closed meetings held by the Public Works Committee for the Township of Bonfield. The Ombudsman noted that the committee’s open session minutes only recorded the resolutions passed by the committee. The Ombudsman also found that the committee excluded the clerk during the closed session minutes and did not take any formal minutes for that portion of the meeting. The Ombudsman found that the municipality’s practices led to little substantive content of the committee’s discussion being recorded. The Ombudsman recommended that the municipality ensure that both open and closed session minutes are kept of all meetings of council, local boards, and committees. The Ombudsman also recommended that meeting records be complete and accurately reflect all of the substantive and procedural items that were discussed, and that meetings be audio and/or video recorded. Finally, the Ombudsman recommended that if the committee’s clerk delegates minute-taking responsibilities, and if the clerk is not attending the meeting, the delegation should be made formally in writing.