Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin is calling on the province to strengthen the “Sunshine Law,” saying public interest has exposed troubling weaknesses in the system.
According to Marin, complaints about closed municipal meetings more than doubled in the past year, which he calls a sign of both “healthy democracy” and “disturbing secrecy.”
The report reviewed highlights of 246 cases received by the ombudsman’s team and found that of the 96 meeting reviewed, 19 were illegal.
In a statement, Marin said one in five is “hardly good news for Ontarians concerned about transparency.”
An additional 31 procedural violations and made 63 recommendations to improve meeting practices.
Marin says the issue of politicians meeting secretly under the guise of a social gathering was the top source of complaints.
As an example, Marin’s report cites the Saturday morning gathering of London Mayor Joe Fontana and six councillors at Billy T’s Tap and Grill ahead of a key budget meeting.
In that case, while politicians claimed the meeting was happenstance, the ombudsman found that it was planned and city business was discussed.
And while he says councillors are free to socialize, the goal of the law is to “Prevent them from subverting the rules and conduction clandestine business.”
The report also looks at the “Sunshine Law” itself, which has been in place since 2008.
The law requires meetings of councils, local boards and their committees to be open to the public unless they meet specific requirements.
But the report points out there is no consequence for violating the law and that municipalities can hire their own investigator if they prefer - or if they don’t like the ombudsman’s findings.
Marin added that the law should impose penalties, invalidate meeting results and have a single, independent investigator for all municipalities.
