Windsor council just made a big decision behind closed doors. Here's why that matters

Windsor city council made a major, unprecedented decisionbehind closed doorsrecently, sparking concerns over local democracy.

Never before has council taken control of all nine Business Improvement Associations (BIA). Just as shocking for some, the 11 elected officials made that decision without any community consultation, public debate or notice.

Councillorswent in camera on Feb. 27. Under the Municipal Act, they can do so when they're talking about identifiable individuals. When they were in camera, they voted to take control of all nine of the city's BIAs without any notice or debate in public.

Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University,said decisions for councils to meet confidentially should be made "very carefully."

"That's not allowing the public to engage in the issue at all," he said. "It's simply turning citizens into passive clients. You sit back, rest assured and we'll tell you at some point, maybe, what we decided. That's not good enough. That's not a democratic system."

Here's why you should care if municipal councils hold meetings behind closed doors

2 years ago

Duration 2:45

A recent Windsor city council decision made behind closed doors is sparking concern over local democracy and the private meeting has also sparked a public complaint.

OnFeb.27, members of council met as acommittee to discuss which members of the public they'd appointto boards, including who wouldsit on the BIAs based on the BIAs' ownelections. At some point, councillorsvoted to appoint themselves to those so they could create a new structure of governing all nine BIAs.

City clerkSteve Vlachodimossayscouncil will vote whether to ratify that decision on March 20. That's when members of the public can speak on the subject.

"To me, that's the proper format," he said.

WATCH: Here's whyTom Urbaniaksays the public should care:

Why people should care about municipal councils making too many decisions behind closed doors

2 years ago

Duration 2:27

Political science professor Tom Urbaniak said debating and voting on issues in private that should be held in public is taking away the community's ability to engage.

Ontario's Municipal Act says meetings should be open to the public unless they're discussing one of the following:

• The security of municipal property or a board.
• Personnelmatters involving someone identifiable.
• Acquiring land.
• Labour relations.
• Litigation andmatters related to solicitor-client privilege.
• Trade secrets belonging to orgiven to the municipality that could interfere with its competitive position.
• Discussions about Ombudsman investigations.

"Local governments are the lifeblood of democracy,"Urbaniak said.

"If we don't have a sense aboutnot only what our local governments are deciding, but what deliberations happen to lead to those decisions, thenthat is actually a threat to our democracy."

Melinda Munro disagrees with how the city interpreted the Municipal Actin this case. She'sasked an external investigator to look into it.

Any member of the public can use the process she's using if they agree with a particular timecouncil discussed a topic behind closed doors.

"I was pretty stunned that this issue of removing authority from a BIA, how could that possibly be allowed?" Muncrosaid.

"There's nothing that needs to be kept private. What's private about that?"

Munro filed that request on Thursday for someone to review these circumstances.

The lawyer and municipal consultant remembers reacting "with quite a bit of outrage" after learning council made this decision in private.

"We elect our officials to do business in public," she said.