THE ISSUES - COVER-UPS - CLOSED MEETING INVESTIGATION
OVERVIEW
Contrary to popular opinion expressed by several candidates at the recent Council Candidates Debate, "no complaints" does not necessarily equate to "no problems".
Although we had been refraining from submitting closed meeting complaints for some time, out of consideration for costs, revelations which came to light in the days following the debate have compelled us to move forward with at least one request for an investigation.
We have submitted our request directly to LAS (Local Authority Services - www.las.on.ca), with copies provided to the Township office for the Clerk-Administrator and each member of Council (including the Mayor). See the Resources section at the bottom of the page to review the full package for yourself.
Although we had been refraining from submitting closed meeting complaints for some time, out of consideration for costs, revelations which came to light in the days following the debate have compelled us to move forward with at least one request for an investigation.
We have submitted our request directly to LAS (Local Authority Services - www.las.on.ca), with copies provided to the Township office for the Clerk-Administrator and each member of Council (including the Mayor). See the Resources section at the bottom of the page to review the full package for yourself.
DETAILS
Normal procedure would be to submit the complaint to the Clerk-Administrator of the Township, who would then gather additional materials (such as copies of applicable by-laws, etc.) and forward all of those, along with the complaint, to LAS. However, we elected to go direct to LAS this time because the last time we inquired about a closed meeting, the Township simply contacted their own solicitor instead of following proper protocol.
If you read through the complete complaint, you will see that we would have accepted a reasonable (public) explanation directly from Council the first time around. But instead, it seems that Council - or at least, someone - elected to treat our initial letter as an official complaint. If that's how they wanted to treat it, they should have engaged LAS to conduct the investigation - not their own solicitor.
Furthermore, the Municipal Act requires that a report be prepared at the end of an investigation, and that the report also be made available to the public. Yet, the lawyer's letter explicitly stated:
If you read through the complete complaint, you will see that we would have accepted a reasonable (public) explanation directly from Council the first time around. But instead, it seems that Council - or at least, someone - elected to treat our initial letter as an official complaint. If that's how they wanted to treat it, they should have engaged LAS to conduct the investigation - not their own solicitor.
Furthermore, the Municipal Act requires that a report be prepared at the end of an investigation, and that the report also be made available to the public. Yet, the lawyer's letter explicitly stated:
"... Council will not receive your correspondence in open session and there will be no discussion of this matter in open session."
Read our initial letter for yourself (below) - you'll see it didn't name any names. In fact, it was entirely gender-neutral, so as not to allow for any speculation. And, it was properly addressed to all members of Council and the Clerk. There was no excuse not to receive it in public.
What finally compelled us to launch the complaint, was finding out that at least two Councillors did not recall seeing our initial letter, and were apparently also unaware that we had been issued a lawyer's letter in response. This suggests that not all of Council may have been involved in either/both case(s).
What finally compelled us to launch the complaint, was finding out that at least two Councillors did not recall seeing our initial letter, and were apparently also unaware that we had been issued a lawyer's letter in response. This suggests that not all of Council may have been involved in either/both case(s).
RESOURCES and SUPPORTING MATERIALS
[Click] - Press Release regarding our request for investigation, which we sent out to several local media outlets.
[Click] - Request for Closed Meeting Investigation. This is the full package that we just submitted to LAS (20-Oct-2014). It contains our current letter requesting an investigation, along with other supporting materials which include the full format of the recent debate, our initial letter of inquiry to Council (28-Jun-2013), and the lawyer's letter which we received in response (03-Jul-2014). The latter two are also available separately, below.
[Click] - Our Initial Letter of Inquiry (28-Jun-2013) which was sent to Council.
[Click] - The Lawyer's Letter (03-Jul-2013) which we received in response to our initial inquiry.
[Click] - Request for Closed Meeting Investigation. This is the full package that we just submitted to LAS (20-Oct-2014). It contains our current letter requesting an investigation, along with other supporting materials which include the full format of the recent debate, our initial letter of inquiry to Council (28-Jun-2013), and the lawyer's letter which we received in response (03-Jul-2014). The latter two are also available separately, below.
[Click] - Our Initial Letter of Inquiry (28-Jun-2013) which was sent to Council.
[Click] - The Lawyer's Letter (03-Jul-2013) which we received in response to our initial inquiry.
PLEASE ATTEND COUNCIL MEETINGS
The clearest, most effective message you can send to Council, is to attend their meetings. So long as the public gallery is empty, they will get the impression that no one cares.
It would be hypocritical to hold Council responsible for the outcome of all things if we are perpetually absent from the process, ourselves.
Typically, Council meetings are held on Mondays. [Click] to open the Township's official calendar in a new window.
It would be hypocritical to hold Council responsible for the outcome of all things if we are perpetually absent from the process, ourselves.
Typically, Council meetings are held on Mondays. [Click] to open the Township's official calendar in a new window.