Lanark Highlands, Township of

The Ombudsman received a complaint alleging that council for the Township of Lanark Highlands contravened the Municipal Act’s open meeting requirements in a meeting on September 22, 2020. In the course of its investigation, the Ombudsman found that the minutes failed to reference aspects of the discussion that made it appropriate for closed session consideration. The Ombudsman recommended, as a best practice, that the Township ensure that its meeting minutes reflect the council’s discussion on all substantive matters and that closed sessions are recorded.

The Ombudsman received a complaint alleging that council for the Township of Lanark Highlands contravened the Municipal Act’s open meeting requirements during a meeting on September 22, 2020. The complaint alleged that council’s discussion did not fit within the exceptions to the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ombudsman’s investigation determined that the proposed land transaction was mentioned briefly to provide context for a conversation about the governance of a local association but was not otherwise discussed. The Ombudsman therefore found that the exception for acquisition or disposition of land would not apply.

The Ombudsman received a complaint alleging that council for the Township of Lanark Highlands contravened the Municipal Act’s open meeting requirements during a meeting on September 22, 2020. The complaint alleged that council’s discussion did not fit within the exceptions to the open meeting rules in the Municipal Act, 2001. The investigation determined that there was some discussion of the personal conduct and temperament of identified individuals. Therefore, the Ombudsman found that this discussion fit within the exception for personal matters about an identifiable individual.

The Ombudsman received complaints about the audio quality of a teleconference meeting held on August 11, 2020, by the committee of the whole for the Township of Lanark Highlands. The complainants alleged that the audio quality of the meeting was so poor that the public could not meaningfully follow the meeting. The Ombudsman acknowledged that poor audio quality of a teleconferenced meeting may interfere with the public’s ability to access a meeting. As a best practice, the Ombudsman suggested that municipalities take steps to monitor the clarity of such teleconferences to ensure that the public can follow municipal decision-making in a meaningful way. The Ombudsman did not find any violations of the Municipal Act’s open meeting requirements.

The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the Township of Lanark Highlands that relied on the exception for solicitor-client privilege to discuss financial software on a municipal-wide basis. During the closed session, council received written legal advice on several topics. There was no legal advice received on the financial software. The municipality suggested that the discussion about the software was merely incidental to its consideration of legal advice received on another topic. The Ombudsman found that council’s discussion about the financial software was neither brief or incidental to its discussion about the legal advice. Therefore, that portion of council’s discussion did not fit within the solicitor-client privilege exception.

The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the Township of Lanark Highlands which relied on the exception for solicitor-client privilege to discuss the municipality’s staff-council communication structure. During the closed session, council discussed written legal advice from the municipality’s solicitor that touched upon several matters. The Ombudsman found that council’s discussion generally focused on the legal opinion, however several times council’s discussion went beyond the written legal advice and into other matters. The Ombudsman found that the portion of council’s discussion beyond the written legal advice did not fit within the solicitor-client privilege exception.

The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the Township of Lanark Highlands to discuss a number of items. The Ombudsman found that the minutes for the in camera discussion were sparse, with only the topics of the discussion listed. The Ombudsman recommended that the municipality improve its record keeping practices by ensuring that the minutes include reference to the location of the meeting, the start and end time of the meeting, attendance, a detailed description of the substantive and procedural matters discussed, motions, and all votes taken.

The Ombudsman reviewed a closed meeting held by council for the Township of Lanark Highlands to discuss involvement of a council member in the financial administration of the township. The meeting was closed using the personal matters exception. The Ombudsman found that generally, discussions of a council member’s actions in the course of their duties are considered to be of a professional nature. However, the in camera discussion about the council member touched upon information that was speculative and also involved scrutiny of the councillor’s conduct that went beyond their official capacity as a member of council. The Ombudsman found that the discussion fit within the personal matters exception.