After watching a recent episode on North Bay Echo by Scott Clark and Dave Dale, where they host the Echo Essentials podcast and interviewed Jamie Lowery, I felt compelled to offer my thoughts….I’m starting to like Mr. Lowery, in spite of his lack of concern over whether or not I, or others, actually do.
The reason for this awakening on my part is my absolute agreement on how unhelpful the minutes are from the City of North Bay. Jamie had requested minutes to a Long Term Financial Plan committee, for which there was no video recording and found the minutes vague and unhelpful.
Back in 2019, I was looking to get more information on a Special Meeting held on Feb 19, 2019…(why…I cant remember….) but the minutes from the meeting are here and there are absolutely no details about the discussions, they are as vague and unhelpful as Jamie alludes.
I then requested the full minutes of that meeting and received the following response from the City Clerk
Section 239(7) of the Municipal Act states:
(7) Record of meeting – a Municipality or local board or a committee of either of them shall record without note or comment all resolutions, decisions and other proceedings at a meeting of the body, whether it is closed to the public or not.
Therefore the Minutes have been created in accordance with the Municipal Act.
Now…I am no legal expert in Municipal legislation, but it sure seemed to me that section meant without note or comment by the author of the minutes….not the participants in the meeting, so I went looking for further information.
The Ombudsman of Ontario has the mandate to investigate complaints about municipalities, among others, and made the following observations in a report on a complaint regarding the Bonfield council.
Incomplete meeting minutes
48 As set out above, the meeting minutes for the May 12 and June 9 meetings record the resolutions passed by council. They list the council members and some members of staff who participated in the meetings, and indicate the time that the meetings began and ended.
49 However, the minutes do not reflect the discussion held by council during the meetings. The minutes do not include resolutions listed on the agenda and discussed during the meeting that did not pass.
50 Section 239(7) of the Municipal Act requires that municipalities “record without note or comment all resolutions, decisions and other proceedings at a meeting”.
51 In order to reflect all proceedings at a meeting, in accordance with the Act, the Ombudsman has suggested that minutes include:
- where the meeting took place;
- when the meeting started and adjourned;
- who chaired the meeting;
- who was in attendance, with specific reference to the Clerk or other designated official responsible for recording the meeting;
- whether any participants left or arrived while the meeting was in progress and if so, at what time this occurred;
- a detailed description of the substantive and procedural matters discussed, including reference to any specific documents considered;
- any motions, including who introduced the motion and seconders;
- all votes taken, and all directions given.[8]
52 As a best practice, the Township should amend its practices to ensure that minutes reflect all meeting proceedings. While minutes are not intended to be a verbatim transcript, they should record the substantive and procedural subjects discussed and include all resolutions considered, including those that do not pass. Minutes that do not reflect the entirety of issues and matters discussed, as well as the decisions made, during a meeting of council do not provide the accurate record required to protect the municipality, should the meeting be subject to an investigation or litigation. Incomplete minutes also leave municipal officials without a record to consult in future in order to understand how an issue was considered or a decision was reached.
53 The Township retained video recordings of the meetings held electronically on May 12 and June 9, 2020. Audio or video recordings can assist greatly in case of an investigation, and enhance the public’s confidence in the municipality’s compliance with the open meeting rules.
54 In this case, the Township’s recordings greatly assisted our investigation and permitted us to review the meeting discussions, despite the lack of detail in the recorded minutes. I commend the Township for retaining video recordings of its meetings and encourage it to adopt this practice permanently going forward.
The posting of meeting videos can greatly improve the information available to the public, although that procedure should be extended to all Council and Committee meetings, with the transcript function activated.
Unfortunately though, the Ombudsman does not have the authority to force Municipalities to adhere to his/her interpretation so, although it is a best practice, it is not a requirement. But if an organization made the commitment to openness, transparency and encouraging resident participation, you would think they would embrace the interpretation of the Municipal Act that best served that objective.
Once the Municipality voluntarily chooses a path that restricts information flow to its residents, their commitment to those laudable objectives becomes mere lip service and the hypocrisy will eventually destroy the connection between the government and the people. Full and complete minutes are a foundation upon which to build a communication channel. Better communication equates with better government.
We need more independent Councillors like Jamie Lowery, who recognize that the status quo in providing information to the public is not meeting the standard required.
Worked at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission for his career, in a number of positions, from front line supervisor to union leader. After retirement in 2011, he continued his interest in government policy and uses social media to stay active in political discussions. Send feedback to: [email protected]
