The Ontario Ombudsman is set to become the closed meeting investigator for Bradford council.
Committee of the whole recommended council endorse the ombudsman for the role based on a recommendation and report from Tara Reynolds, clerk, during the regular council meeting on Sept. 3.
“I think the Ontario Ombudsman is the one to go with. It doesn’t cost us any money,” Mayor James Leduc said in moving the option.
In her report, Reynolds explained the current joint contract through the County of Simcoe with Aird & Berlis LLP is set to expire Dec. 31, and the county notified the town that they will not be seeking renewal and no longer paying the annual administration fee of $250 plus HST for their lower-tier municipalities.
In response, Reynolds provided three options for the town, with the first recommended:
- Select the ombudsman which provides closed meeting investigator services for free, as a sort of default under the Municipal Act;
- Enter into their own agreement with Local Authority Services (LAS), a buying group under the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to continue using Aird & Berlis (unless LAS switches to a different firm) which has an annual fee of $250 plus HST, as well as hourly investigation rates ranging from $350 an hour to $795 an hour plus reasonable expenses;
- Contract Principles Integrity, the town’s current integrity commissioner, to be the closed meeting investigator, which has an annual fee of $250, as well as an hourly rate of $275
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano asked about expected timelines from the ombudsman, to which Reynolds explained “they seem to be an efficiently working office,” based on a summary of their cases, and “I have no issues with recommending them.”
According to the most recent annual report, between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, the Ontario Ombudsman received 27,030 cases with 44 per cent closed within one week and 57 per cent closed within two weeks.
Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie said he was “very impressed” with how the ombudsman dealt with a matter years ago, describing it like “one cat versus 10,000 dogs in a room, and they held their own.”
Reynold’s report showed eight of the county’s 16 member municipalities are already using the ombudsman as their closed meeting investigator with another two set to make the switch as of Jan. 1, 2025, along with the county itself.
The town has not been the subject of a previous closed meeting investigation according to the report.
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
