Ombudson clears South Frontenac after complaint about closed meeting

Jeff Green | Oct 13, 2021

Controversy has dogged over the Johnston Point project in South Frontenac since it was first proposed, and even after final approval for a “Vacant Land” Plan of Condominium has finally cleared all appeals and been approved by Frontenac County Council, the project is still the subject of scrutiny.

The latest challenge came in the form of a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman's office over a closed meeting that the township held in July to discuss some remaining legal manners pertaining to the project.

The complaint, as explained by the report of the Ombudsman's office in a report that was received by the township on September 29, was that at the meeting with the township's solicitor, the discussion strayed from confidential matters to other matters related to the project.

All matters that come before a municipal council must be discussed in public, according the Ontario Municipal Act, with certain exceptions.

One of those exeptions related to matters which come under solicitor-client privilege.

In his letter to Council, Paul Dube, the Ombudsman, described it in this way: “Per s. 239(2)(f) of the [Municipal]Act, a meeting or part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose.”

Dube said that “the complaint to my office suggested that the discussion did not fit within the exception, as the presentation included information about the project that was not confidential.”

Dube said that his office interviewed South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal as part of their investigation.

“The Mayor told us that the objective of the meeting was to advise council of the Township’s legal obligations around the Johnston Point Development. During the meeting, the Township’s solicitor actively participated in the discussion, providing confidential legal advice and responding to questions posed by council. Accordingly, council’s discussion fit within the exception for solicitor-client privilege. “

But as to the claim in the complaint that the discussion strayed from confidential matters to other matters, Dube said “the courts have found that it is unrealistic to expect council to parse its discussion where it would detract from free and uninterrupted discussion. Here, it was not possible for council to separate the confidential legal advice from the general information about the development project. The topics were entwined in such a way that it would not have been realistic to expect council to parse them.”

He therefore concluded that “Council for the Township did not contravene the open meeting requirements on July 13, 2021, when meeting in closed session to discuss the Johnston Point Development.”