Cornwall, City of

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. At the time of the review, the Committee did not have a practice of returning to open session and reporting back. The Ombudsman found that the Committee’s practice of not returning to open session to adjourn the meeting was not in accordance with the City’s procedure by-law. The Ombudsman recommended reporting back as a best practice to increase transparency of the closed meeting process.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Committee did not keep separate minutes for the open and closed portions of each meeting. The Ombudsman found that the minutes that were kept recorded limited information, and did not record the content or the nature of the Committee’s discussion. The Ombudsman recommended that the Committee ensure that minutes are kept for both open and closed sessions of meetings and that meeting records are complete and accurately reflect all of the substantive and procedural items that are discussed.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The resolutions passed by the Committee to proceed in camera cited the closed meeting exceptions it relied on to exclude the public, but failed to provide any further detail regarding the intended discussion. The Ombudsman found that the Committee contravened subsection 239(4) of the Municipal Act, 2001 at both meetings when it failed to state by resolution the general nature of the matter to be considered in camera.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Ombudsman’s review found that while council’s procedure by-law describes how notice shall be given for all council meetings, the by-law does not describe the type of notice required for committee meetings. The Ombudsman recommended that the City amend its by-law to set out how notice will be provided for committee meetings.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Ombudsman concluded that the exception for information supplied in confidence by a third party did not apply to the Committee’s in camera discussions at either meeting since there was no evidence that information disclosed during the meetings could have been expected to cause significant harm to a third party.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Committee’s closed session discussions at these meetings were not related to any current or future negotiations being carried out by the Committee or on its behalf. Accordingly, the in camera discussions at both meetings did not fit within the closed meeting exception for plans and instructions for negotiations.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Ombudsman found that the Committee’s discussions on November 9, 2021 did not include personal matters about identifiable individuals and did not fit within this open meeting exception. The Ombudsman found that portions of the discussion on November 30, 2021 fit within the exception for personal matters about an identifiable individual. However, these portions of the discussion only fell within the exception because of the extraneous comments made about an identifiable individual, which the Committee was not required to discuss in closed session.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. The Committee cited the exception for education or training when it proceeded in camera at both meetings. The Ombudsman found that the exception did not apply to these in camera discussions. In both cases, the discussions did not provide general information for the purposes of educating or training the Committee members.

The Ombudsman received a complaint regarding closed meetings held by the City of Cornwall’s Municipal Grants Review Committee / Working Group on November 9 and November 30, 2021. Although Committee members told the Ombudsman they believed the Committee to be a working group, the Ombudsman found that the Committee is in fact a committee of council and must comply with the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001.

The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the City of Cornwall that relied on the personal matters exception to discuss the Cornwall Regional Airport. During the discussion, council reviewed the performance and conduct of commission members and another individual. The Ombudsman found that council’s discussion went beyond the individuals’ professional roles, and if that information were to be disclosed, it would reveal something of a personal nature about the individuals. Accordingly, the discussion fit within the personal matters exception.