5. CLOSED MEETINGS INVESTIGATION PROCESS

PROCÉDURE RELATIVE AUX ENQUÊTES SUR LES RÉUNIONS À HUIS CLOS

Committee RecommendationS

That Council:

1. Approve the process for accepting and investigating complaints set out in this report; and

2. Approve the inclusion of a notice on all Council and Standing Committee Agendas which contain reports to be considered in closed session advising members of the public of their right to question the decision to deal with the matter in camera.

RecommandationS du comité

Que le Conseil :

1. Approuve la méthode d’acceptation et d’instruction des plaintes énoncée dans le présent rapport; et

2. Approuve l’ajout à l’ordre du jour des réunions du Conseil municipal et des comités permanents d’un avis énumérant les rapports devant être étudiés à huis clos et informant les citoyens de leur droit de contester la décision d’examiner ces rapports à huis clos.

Documentation

1. City Solicitor’s report dated 27 May 2008 (ACS2008-CMR-LEG-0017).

Report to/Rapport au :

Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee

Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique

and Council / et au Conseil

27 May 2008/le 27 mai 2008

Submitted by/Soumis par : Douglas Wallace, Meetings Investigator/l’enqueteur pour les reunions a huis clos

Contact Person/Personne- resource: Douglas Wallace, Meetings Investigator/l’enqueteur pour les reunions a huis clos

(613) 789-2166, doug.wallace@rogers.com

City Wide/à l'échelle de la Ville

Ref N°: ACS2008-CMR-LEG-0017

SUBJECT:	closed meetings investigation process

OBJET :	procédure relative aux enquêtes sur les réunions à huis clos

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council:

1. Approve the process for accepting and investigating complaints set out in this report; and

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique recommande au Conseil :

1. D’approuver la méthode d’acceptation et d’instruction des plaintes énoncée dans le présent rapport; et

2. D’approuver l’ajout à l’ordre du jour des réunions du Conseil municipal et des comités permanents d’un avis énumérant les rapports devant être étudiés à huis clos et informant les citoyens de leur droit de contester la décision d’examiner ces rapports à huis clos.

BACKGROUND

On November 28, 2007, City Council approved the establishment of a Meetings Investigator position to investigate complaints regarding the propriety of closed meetings held by City Council, a local board, or a committee of either. The Meetings Investigator, Mr. Doug Wallace, joined the City on January 14, 2008. As part of his mandate, the Meetings Investigator agreed to develop processes and procedures for receiving complaints regarding closed meetings for approval by City Council. This report is submitted in response to this requirement.

DISCUSSION

Following his appointment, the Meetings Investigator worked with City Staff to refine the information provided on the City’s website relating to this position. The resulting information can be found on the website under the heading “Accountability and Transparency” (http://www.ottawa.ca/city _hall/mayor_council/accountability/index-en.html). The process is described on the site, as follows:

Investigations are initiated by the completion and submission to the City Clerk of Request for Investigation form.

The Request for Investigation form is logged and forwarded to the Meetings Investigator together with an initial collection of Council/Committee information relating to the meeting.

The Meetings Investigator will review the request to determine whether a further investigation is warranted.

If the Meetings Investigator decides to pursue the request, he will inform City Council via a memo (similar to the current MFIPPA process) and launch an investigation and collect all the relevant information required. Upon completion of the investigation, the Meetings Investigator will report his findings and recommendations to Council and/or the local board.

The investigation will be completed and reported on within 30 calendar days of the initial request.

To date, there have been no requests since the appointment of the Meetings Investigator to test the adequacy of this process. Discussions with the Meetings Investigators appointed by other municipalities, however, have led to the recommendation that Step 2 above be refined to specify that the information and documentation forwarded to the Meetings Investigator by the municipality shall include the following:

a) a certified copy of the Notice of Meeting;

b) a certified copy of the Meeting’s Agenda;

c) a certified copy of any Minutes and relevant resolutions; and

d) a municipal contact list (i.e. contact information of those attending the meeting in question).

Further, it is recommended that the process specify that the investigation referred to in Step 4 will include a review of all documents provided as well as interviews with the Chair and Members of any meeting being investigated.

It is also recommended that the name of a Requestor, the contents of the Request, and all information gathered by the Meetings Investigator during the course of his investigation be kept confidential pending the Report to Council or the decision by the Meetings Investigator not to hold an investigation. The Meetings Investigator’s report will reveal only the information required to better inform his decision.

While there is no empirical evidence to explain the absence of Requests for Investigations at the City of Ottawa, two distinct possibilities exist. On the one hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that the general public and the media appreciate that there is sufficient justification for Council and its various committees to address certain issues in closed session. Another opposing opinion is that the availability of a fast and free investigatory process for questioning the propriety of a closed meeting is not widely known. To avoid this latter possibility, it is recommended that each Council and Standing Committee agenda containing an in-camera report include a Notice in the following format:

Any person has a right to request an independent investigation of the propriety of dealing with matters in a closed session. A form requesting such a review may be obtained, without charge, from the City’s website or in person from the Chair of this meeting. Requests are kept confidential pending any report by the Meetings Investigator and are conducted without charge to the Requestor.

CONSULTATION

In addition to the City Clerk and City Solicitor, the Meetings Investigator has consulted with Meetings Investigators appointed by other Ontario municipalities, the LAS Program Coordinator with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Cape Canaveral City Clerk and the Office of the Florida Attorney General.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no financial implications arising from this report.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1: Request for Investigation of Closed Meeting form.

DISPOSITION

The Meetings Investigator and City Clerk’s Office will ensure the recommended changes to the process are made and that the approved notice shall appear in all Committee and Council agendas containing in-camera reports. In addition, Council’s decision on this matter will be forwarded to all of the City’s local boards that are subject to the Meetings Investigator’s jurisdiction with the suggestion that they adopt a similar Agenda Notice provision as described in this report.