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The Ombudsman found that council for the Township of McGarry’s closed session discussion of the former mayor’s resignation, and discussions about specific potential appointees to fill the resulting vacancies on September 1, 2023, fit within the exception for personal matters. While the Ombudsman determined that the interspersed discussions about whether to fill the vacancies by appointment or through a by-election did not fit within any open meeting exceptions, parsing those parts of the meeting would have detracted from free, open, and uninterrupted discussion. Accordingly, council’s entire closed session discussion was permitted under the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman also noted that council may wish to consider how to structure similar conversations in the future to increase the openness and transparency of its decision-making.
The Ombudsman investigated a closed session held by council for the Town of Plympton-Wyoming. The meeting was closed under the personal matters exception. Council discussed the employment history and qualifications of two individuals interested in filling a council vacancy. Accordingly, this part of the discussion fit within the personal matters exception. Council also discussed the method to be used to fill the vacancy either a by-election or appointment. The Ombudsman found that this part of the discussion did not concern personal matters of identifiable individuals. According, this part of the discussion was not permitted to be closed to the public.
The Ombudsman investigated a closed session held by council for the Town of Plympton-Wyoming. The meeting was closed under the personal matters exception. The Ombudsman found that council’s discussion about the employment history and qualifications of two individuals interested in filling a council vacancy fit within the “personal matters” exception to the open meeting rules. However, council’s discussions about whether to fill the vacancy by holding a by-election or by appointment did not fit within the “personal matters” exception. The Ombudsman found that it would have been possible for council to parse the two discussions. Council could have discussed the method to fill the council vacancy in open session then proceed to closed session to discuss personal matters relating to the individuals interested in filling the council vacancy.
The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the Township of The North Shore relying on the personal matters exception to discuss a vacant council seat. During the closed session, council discussed whether to fill the vacancy by appointment or by by-election, and at least one identifiable individual who could fill the vacancy. The discussion about the identifiable individual involved personal information regarding qualifications and experience. The Ombudsman found that this portion of the discussion fit within the personal matters exception. However, the Ombudsman found that council’s discussion about how to fill the council vacancy (whether by appointment or by-election) did not include any personal information about an identifiable individual. Accordingly, this portion of the discussion did not fit within the personal matters exception.