Cambridge council limits access to in-camera committee meetings

Cambridge city council passed a motion Tuesday evening that restricts access to council committee in-camera meetings to only those councillors who serve on the committee.

The motion wasput forward by Coun. Frank Monteiro. When contacted by CBC News, Monteiro declined to explain why he proposed the change saying that would be revealed first to his fellow councillors at Tuesday night's meeting.

"The way I interpret it, the closed meeting is only for the people that are on the committee. There are reasons why the meetings are closed," Monteiro said.

According to the Ontario Muncipal Act, 2001, all meetings are to be open to the public, but there are exceptions.

Municipal meetings can go in-camera if those meetings are about:

1. The security of the property of the municipality or local board or planned acquisition or sale of such land.
2. Personal matters about municipal or local board employees, labour relations or employee negotiations.
3. Legal matters affecting the municipality or local board or advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.

Monteiro will be on The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris on Wednesday morning at 7:10 a.m.