City of Hamilton

The Ombudsman received complaints about the Hamilton Waterfront Trust’s meeting practices. The complaints alleged that the meetings of the Waterfront Trust’s Board of Trustees were not open to the public because members of the public were not permitted to attend Board meetings. In addition, the complaints alleged that the Waterfront Trust did not provide public notice of its Board meetings and did not make its agendas and minutes public.

The Ombudsman found that the Hamilton Waterfront Trust is a local board of the City and is therefore subject to the open meeting rules of the Municipal Act, 2001. For the period of April 2020 to February 2021, members of the public were not permitted to attend the Waterfront Trust’s Board of Trustees’ meetings. Beginning in April 2021, after this concern was raised with the City and the Board, the Board began to comply with the open meeting rules, including providing adequate public notice and ensuring that the public could observe meetings in progress.

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