Investigation Report: Ombudsman Act – Village of Dunnottar
investigations & monitoring
municipal / local body
Summary
An individual was concerned that a decision made by the Village of Dunnottar’s council to close part of a meeting to the public did not comply with the Municipal Act. The municipality informed us that it closed the meeting to discuss preliminary negotiations it was involved in. We were not satisfied that council had the authority to discuss this matter in a closed session. The Village of Dunnottar accepted our recommendation that no subject should be discussed in a closed session unless it clearly comes within the Municipal Act exceptions to the open meeting requirement. We also recommended that the municipality start writing closed session minutes, but council did not accept this recommendation.
Case 2019-0574