Executive Committee Agenda January 9, 2020 Council Chambers County Administration Centre, Walkerton 1. Call to Order 2. Declaration of Pecuniary Interest 3. Action Items a. Closed Meeting Investigator Report b. Procedure By-law Update c. Bruce County Participation in the Municipal Innovation Council d. 2020 Departmental Annual Business Plans 4. Information Items a. Cultural Action Plan and Archaeological Management Plan 5. Act on Recommendations That in accordance with the Procedure by-law, staff be authorized and directed to give effect to the actions of the Executive Committee in respect of all resolutions passed during the January 9, 2020 meeting. 6. Next Meeting February 6, 2020 7. Adjournment Corporation of the County of Bruce brucecounty.on.ca Executive Committee Report To: Warden Mitch Twolan Members of the Executive Committee From: Donna Van Wyck Clerk Date: January 9, 2020 Re: Closed Meeting Investigator Report Staff Recommendation: That the findings in the Closed Meeting Investigator’s Report dated December 2, 2019 be accepted; and, That Council, Board Members and Senior Staff be trained on the proper application of the requirements of Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, once per term of Council; and, That the portion of the Closed Museum Committee Reports and Minutes of May 17, 2018; July 5, 2018; July 12, 2018; October 4, 2018 and January 3, 2019 pertaining to discussions regarding 254 High Street, Southampton and the Museum Expansion be made public. Background: The County of Bruce received a complaint about closed meetings of the Museum Committee held on May 17, 2018; July 5, 2018; July 12, 2018; October 4, 2018 and January 3, 2019 claiming the subject matters were not eligible to be discussed in the absence of the public under the exceptions cited in the resolutions authorizing the closed sessions of the Committee. The County received the Closed Meeting Investigator’s report on December 2, 2019. The report was included on the December 5, 2019 Council Agenda and was referred to the Executive Committee. The Closed Meeting Investigator’s report provided the following: Conclusions: The closed sessions of the County of Bruce Museum Committee meetings of May 17, July 5, July 12, and October 4, 2018 were not closed in compliance with Section 239 and any of the permitted exceptions to its open meetings provisions. Page 2 of 134 The January 3, 2019 closed session of the Museum Committee meeting was not closed in accordance with any of the exceptions included in the resolution that authorized the closed session. It could have been closed with respect to the disposition of property provision, since it dealt with the possible sale of a structure on County property. None of the sessions that are the subject of this report proceeded properly with respect to the provision of direction to staff in closed session. There were no records of any resolutions dealt with in closed session providing such direction, although the ensuing open minutes referred to direction having been given. The Municipal Act only contemplates providing direction in closed session by way of resolution. Recommendations: County staff should familiarize themselves, and members of Council and Committees with the proper application of the requirements of Section 239 of the Municipal Act and reaffirm their commitment to open and transparent local government as cited in their procedure bylaw. Bill 68 introduced a new requirement for municipalities to address closed meeting investigations. Section 239.2 (12) of the Municipal Act requires: “If a municipality or a local board receives a report from a person referred to in clause 239.1 (a) or (b) reporting his or her opinion, and the reasons for it, that a meeting or part of a meeting that was the subject- matter of an investigation by that person appears to have been closed to the public contrary to section 239 or to a procedure by-law under subsection 238 (2), the municipality or the local board, as the case may be, shall pass a resolution stating how it intends to address the report.” Staff consulted with external counsel on how to address the findings in the closed meeting investigation report and the following direction was provided: As noted in the investigator’s report the relevant meetings should have been held in public. Given the assumption that the County has no basis to challenge the findings the following steps apply: a) Under Municipal Act, s.239.1(11) the County is required to make the investigator’s report available to the public. This was achieved by posting the report on the December 5, 2019 Bruce County Council Agenda which was published on the website. b) Under Municipal Act, s.239.1(12) the County is required to pass a resolution stating how it intends to address the report. In this instance, a resolution accepting the findings of the report should be presented for Council’s approval. Page 3 of 134 c) To address the specifics on the treatment of the minutes from the affected meetings, in the absence of any ground to find the meetings were eligible to be held in-camera, I recommend that the Minutes and Reports pertaining to 254 High Street and the Museum Expansion be treated as publicly accessible. This will be achieved by creating supplementary Minutes and Agendas which will include the relevant reports and excerpts from the Closed Meetings. These documents will be published on the County Website within a reasonable period, not likely to exceed 30 days from the passing of the motion referred to in b) above, to provide staff adequate time to respond to Committee’s direction. A mandatory training session for all Members of Council and senior staff has been arranged. Financial/Staffing/Legal/IT Considerations: There is no financial, staffing, legal or IT considerations associated with this report. Interdepartmental Consultation: There was no interdepartmental consultation. Link to Strategic Goals and Elements: None identified. Approved by: Bettyanne Cobean Acting Chief Administrative Officer Page 4 of 134 REPORT TO THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF BRUCE REGARDING THE INVESTIGATION OF CLOSED SESSIONS OF THE BRUCE COUNTY MUSEUM COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF MAY 17, 2018; JULY 5, 2018; JULY 12, 2018; OCTOBER 4, 2018; AND JANUARY 3, 2019. Complaint The County of Bruce (“County”) received a complaint about in-camera portions (“closed sessions”) of Museum Committee meetings held in 2018 and 2019. The essence of the complaint is the subject matters discussed in closed session were not eligible to be discussed in the absence of the public under the exceptions cited in the resolutions authorizing the closed sessions of Committee. The complaint was sent to the offices of Amberley Gavel Ltd. for investigation. Jurisdiction The County of Bruce appointed Local Authority Services (LAS) as its closed meeting Investigator pursuant to section 239.2 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended (“Municipal Act”). LAS has delegated its powers and duties to Amberley Gavel Ltd. to undertake the investigation and report to the Council of the County of Bruce. Background (1) The Municipal Act Section 239 of the Municipal Act provides that all meetings of a municipal council, local board or a committee of either of them shall be open to the public. This requirement is one of the elements of transparent local government. The section sets forth exceptions to this open meeting rule. It lists the reasons for which a meeting, or a portion of a meeting, may or shall be closed to the public: … 1 Page 5 of 134 (2) A meeting or part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is, (a) the security of the property of the municipality or local board; (b) personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees; (c) a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board; (d) labour relations or employee negotiations; (e) litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board; (f) advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose; (g) a matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act; (h) information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them; (i) a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization; (j) a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value; or (k) a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board. 2001, c. 25, s. 239 (2); 2017, c. 10, Sched. 1, s. 26 (3) A meeting or part of a meeting shall be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is, (a) a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, if the council, board, commission or other body is the head of an institution for the purposes of that Act; or (b) an ongoing investigation respecting the municipality, a local board or a municipally controlled corporation by the Ombudsman appointed under the Ombudsman Act, an Ombudsman referred to in subsection 223.13 (1) of this Act, or the investigator referred to in subsection 239.2 (1).