Closed door meetings can be necessary, says city of Thunder Bay clerk

Closed door meetings can be necessary, says city of Thunder Bay clerk....John Hannam.

Carl Clutchey

Friday, November 2, 2012 - 08:15

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Though the City of Thunder is looking at ways to meet behind closed doors less often, some private council meetings are necessary to ensure the municipality maintains a competitive footing when contemplating a sale or purchase of land, and dealing with labour-relations matters, says the city clerk.
John Hannam said Wednesday that he was “dismayed” by the tone taken this week by Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin, who called some municipalities “shockingly secretive.”
“I’m dismayed by the use of the inflammatory language, because if you read his report you’ll see that he says that most municipalities are following the rules (in terms of how council meetings are held),” said Hannam.
The City of Thunder Bay was not among a dozen cases in the report Marin and his team followed up.
In the Town of Midland, for example, Marin found “that councillors voted informally and illegally in several closed meetings in late 2011 and early 2012, including to address their own salaries and benefits.”
Hannam said that under the Municipal Act, councillors can only vote behind closed doors on “procedural matters,” or to “give direction” to staff to proceed, say, to explore the possibility of selling or purchasing a property.
In the case of a land purchase, said Hannam, the matter would be debated by council in public before it was put to a vote in public.
Under the act, councils can meet behind closed doors for nine categories, including matters pertaining to municipal employees.
Marin is urging municipalities to meet behind closed doors less often.
One option would be to bring matters normally discussed in a closed-door session out into the open with the addition of “confidential memos” that would keep a citizen’s private information out of the public eye.
After Marin’s report on closed-door meetings appeared, a Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing spokeswoman said the ministry is “currently reviewing the Municipal Act and will ensure that any recommendations to the province surrounding closed meetings will receive careful consideration.”
The NDP scoffed at that response in the wake of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s request — which was granted — to shut down the legislature indefinitely earlier this month.
“By stopping MPPs from working in the legislature, the McGuinty Liberals have made it impossible for the provincial legislature to take any actions based on (Marin’s) report,” Toronto NDP MPP Michael Prue said in a news release.