For Immediate Release
Engage Windsor Calls for Ombudsman Review and Encourages Public Action on Windsor’s In-Camera Budget Items
Windsor – Today, Engage Windsor announced that it has requested the Ontario Ombudsman to review the City of Windsor’s decision to withhold 54 budget items from the public. Totalling over $9 million in cuts, these items are scheduled for an in-camera meeting on January 26th, after the public delegation day on January 12th. Engage Windsor believes that discussing over $9 million in budget discussions behind closed doors severely undermines democracy and confidence in the local government.
“We are asking the Ombudsman to remind the Mayor and Council that choosing to discuss these items in-camera is not a legal requirement, but a choice,” said Co-Chair Joshua Sankarlal, “Furthermore, we are putting the City on notice that if, after the closed meeting, any items are found to have exaggerated or misrepresented the claimed exception, we will file a formal closed meeting complaint.”
Engage also encourages members of the public who share their concerns to contact the Ontario Ombudsman and voice their own views.
Background
- The Municipal Act s.239 lays out 14 exceptions in which a meeting may be closed to the public.
- Of the 14 exceptions, only 2 require the meeting to be closed to the public:
- Requests under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
- An ongoing investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman or the municipality’s closed meeting investigator or local ombudsman
- Closing a meeting due to discussions surrounding personal matters about an identifiable individual (s.239 2 (b)) is only eligible if:
- They include the performance of an individual employee,
- They discuss candidates for an open position,
- Allegations of law violations
- In the Municipality of St. Charles in 2019, the Ontario Ombuds found that financial matters should not have been merged with matters relating to an individual and then discussed in a closed meeting.
Our City, 
Engage believes in advocacy through empowerment. Municipalities across Ontario run "Resident Satisfaction Surveys" that ask residents important questions about their quality of life, service satisfaction and budget priorities. The City of Windsor does not run these surveys, but with the municipal election approaching we thought it was more important than ever that we discuss these important topics with our community.
