Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport Commission (previously NCAC)

The Ombudsman received a complaint that an airport commission voted improperly during a closed meeting. During the closed session, the commission reached a consensus to accept and approve a financial agreement. Reaching a consensus is considered to be a vote for the purposes of the open meeting rules. The Ombudsman found that the discussion was properly closed under the exceptions to the open meeting rules, however, the vote was not for a procedural matter or a direction to staff. Accordingly, the vote was not permitted.  

The Ombudsman found that a closed session discussion held by an airport commission fit within the “negotiations” exception. The airport commission was in negotiations with a third party about future business development. During the discussion, the airport commission assessed whether to accept a financial agreement as proposed and determined a course of action with respect to the ongoing negotiations.

An airport commission indicated on its website that meetings were to take place on the second Thursday of each month, September through June, which the Ombudsman found is sufficient to provide the public with notice of meetings that occur on a regular schedule. However, a meeting in April 2021 took place on a Friday, and the Ombudsman found that the commission could not provide evidence to show its website had been updated to advise the public of this change.

An airport commission held several closed meetings where it neglected to keep minutes or the minutes did not contain accurate and complete details about the discussion. The Ombudsman noted that minutes do not need to record a verbatim transcript of the discussion, but should capture the substance of all matters considered. The Ombudsman also recommends audio or video recording all open and closed sessions, for a complete record.

An airport commission, which is a joint local board of four municipalities, did not have a procedure by-law. The Municipal Act requires that every local board pass a procedure by-law, and the Ombudsman found that failing to adopt a procedure by-law is a contravention of the Act. 

The Ombudsman reviewed a meeting held by the Niagara Central Airport Commission. The Ombudsman found that the Niagara Central Airport Commission is a local board subject to the open meeting rules. The Ombudsman recommended that the Commission enact a procedure by-law governing meetings in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001.