Council Complaints and Transparency

If any person believes a council, committee or board member has disregarded the Code of Conduct Council they may make a complaint by filing out the Code of Conduct Complaint Form. 

Please note there is a $150 fee for all formal complaints to the Integrity Commissioner. The fee is payable to the municipality via cash, debit or cheque.

The Conflict of Interest Act governs individual Councillors, Committee and Board members, and is the duty of each member to comply.

A conflict of interest is any personal or pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, for the councillor or family member of the councillor for any item under consideration by Council, Committee or Board. Pecuniary interest refers to any financial or monetary interest, whether it's a positive or negative influence.

It is the responsibility of each member, not staff, to determine whether they have a direct or indirect pecuniary interest with respect to matters arising before Council, a Board or Committee. Councillors shall not take part in any discussion or influence other councillors before, during or after the meeting for items they have declared a conflict of interest in. They will also be unable to vote on these items.

If a councillor does not declare a conflict of interest they may be subject to penalties.

 Any person can file a complaint using the Conflict of Interest Inquiry Form with the Clerk of the Municipality regarding a Council, Committee or Board member if they believe they have contravened the Conflict of Interest Act.

Please note there is a $150 fee for all formal complaints to the Integrity Commissioner. The fee is payable to the municipality via cash, debit or cheque.

Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended states that part of a meeting may be closed to the public under the following circumstances:

• The security of property of the municipality or local board;
• Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including local board employees;
• A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board;
• Labour relations or employee negotiations;
• Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
• Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
• A matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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; and
• 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.
• 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.
• 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). 2014, c. 13, Sched. 9, s. 22.
• The meeting is held for the purpose of educating or training the members; and at the meeting, no member discusses or otherwise deals with any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board or committee.  2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 103 (1).