Sudbury councillors slammed by Ontario ombudsman

Ontario's ombudsman says Sudbury city council did nothing wrong when it discussed the future of the city's auditor-general behind closed doors.

But the ombudsman slammed city councillors as un-cooperative and immature.

A complaint from a citizen brought Ombudsman AndrMarin in to investigate private meetings held last fall.

The meetings dealt withwhether or not to renew the contract of Greater Sudbury Auditor General Brian Bigger.

But Marin ruled that was okay, because it was a private personnel matter.

What the Ombudsman didn't find okay was how difficult it was to do his investigation.

Marin's report said only four of the 14 Sudbury city officials he wanted to interview were willing to talk.

He accused city councillors of "legal gamesmanship, political gymnastics," and of having a strange aversion to the Ombudsman's twitter account.

Marin called Sudbury city council the least co-operative group he had ever investigated, and he warned that he will use "the legal tools at our disposal," to ensure that future investigations go more smoothly.