Council & Committees

The County of Simcoe (the “municipality”) is committed to ensuring that any request for an investigation under Section 239 of the Municipal Act, as amended is dealt with in a fair, open and expeditious manner.

The municipality commits to full co-operation including the provision of all information requested by the Municipal Closed Meeting Investigator (“Investigator”), either written or through interviews, to assist the Municipal Investigator in their investigation.

In accordance with Section 239.2(11) of the Municipal Act, the County of Simcoe shall ensure that any reports received from the Municipal Closed Meeting Investigator by the municipality are made available to the public.

The municipality commits to including any report received from the Investigator related to an investigation under the Municipal Act, on a public agenda and to considering such report in an open public session of Council or a Standing Committee of Council.

Questions can be directed to the Clerk’s Department, County of Simcoe Administration Centre, 1110 Highway 26, Midhurst, ON L9X 1N6 or by contacting the Clerk’s Department at 705-726-9300 Ext. 1246 or through e-mail to jonathan.magill@simcoe.ca

As of January 1, 2025 the Ontario Ombudsman will act as the County of Simcoe Closed Meeting Investigator and is authorized to conduct investigations upon receipt of a complaint regarding meetings or parts of meetings that are closed to the public. The investigator will determine compliance with the Municipal Act or the County of Simcoe’s Procedure By-law with respect to closed meetings and will report on the results of such investigations.

All meetings shall be open to the public, with some exceptions. These exceptions are found in Section 239 of the Municipal Act and are included within the County of Simcoe’s Procedure By-law. A meeting or part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is:

• The security of property of the municipality or local board;
• Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees;
• A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board;
• Labour relations or employee negotiations;
• Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
• Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
• A matter in respect of which a Council, Board, Committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act;
• Information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them;
• A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons or organization;
• A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value;
• A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board;
• A request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, if the Council, board, commission or other body is the head of an institution for the purposes of that Act;
• An ongoing investigation respecting the municipality, a local board of a municipally-controlled corporation by the Ombudsman appointed under the Ombudsman Act, an Ombudsman referred to in subsection 223.13 (1) of the Municipal Act, or the investigator referred to in subsection 239.2(1) of the Municipal Act; and,
• A meeting held for the purpose of educating or training the members where at the meeting no member discusses or otherwise deals with a matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board or committee.

Members of the public, including corporations, may submit requests to the investigator relating to compliance with the Municipal Act or the Municipal Procedure By-law for meetings or part of meetings that are closed to the public. To make a complaint please contact the Ontario Ombudsman directly. Their contact information and more information on beginning the process can be found by visiting their website www.ombudsman.on.ca/have-a-complaint

Prior to submitting a request for investigation, members of the public, including corporations, are encouraged to discuss their inquiry with the County Clerk who may be able to proactively address a question or concern. Questions can be directed to the County Clerk by contacting the Clerk’s Department at 705-726-9300 Ext. 1246 or through e-mail to jonathan.magill@simcoe.ca.