The Town of Whitby has announced that council has voted to adopt a recommendation from town staff to use the Ontario Ombudsman as Whitby’s default closed meeting investigator.
There is no cost to municipalities to use the Ontario Ombudsman, while Whitby’s most recent closed meeting investigation in 2024 cost $13,276 (see below).
The issue of an independent investigator arose because of an allegation of a secret council meeting on October 7 from which councillors Chris Leahy and Steve Yamada were supposedly excluded. This was found to be without any basis by the investigator (see below).
In 2008, council appointed Local Authority Services (LAS)—an arm of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario—as the town’s closed meeting investigator. LAS later awarded closed meeting investigator services to Aird & Berlis LLP, beginning in the 2020 calendar year.
In February this year, Whitby council directed staff to review the pros and cons, financial or otherwise, of retaining the existing closed meeting investigator contracted through LAS versus using the Ontario Ombudsman. A town report notes Aird & Berlis LLP has a demonstrated track record of completing investigations within a few months of receiving a complaint, while the Ontario Ombudsman can take up to a year to complete an investigation.
According to Whitby, Clarington, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering, and Scugog also use the Ontario Ombudsman, while Brock, Uxbridge, and the Region of Durham use LAS. Of the 444 municipalities in Ontario, 268 use the Ombudsman and 90 use LAS, with the remaining 86 municipalities having arrangements with alternative providers.
Whitby council has also adopted two amendments to the town’s Procedure By-law: the playing of the national anthem as part of the opening protocols for regular council meetings, and permitting recorded votes at standing committee meetings.
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