Accountability and Transparency

The Council of the Township of North Huron recognizes that it is responsible to provide good governance for its stakeholders in an accountable and transparent manner by:

Encouraging public access and participation to ensure that decision-making is responsive to the needs of its constituents and receptive to their opinions;
Delivering high quality services to its citizens; and
Promoting the efficient use of public resources.

Accountability and transparency are important in maintaining public trust in Council and Staff. The Reeve and Councillors are accountable to the public every four years through municipal elections. It is important that procedures and policies be clearly set out and accessible.

The Township of North Huron complies with the legislative requirements as set out in Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario Municipal Legislation Act.

Code of Conduct

A Code of Conduct Policy for Member of Council and Local Boards was adopted in 2019 and applies to all members of the North Huron Council, Committees and Boards.

The purpose of the Code of Conduct is to establish a general standard to ensure that all Members share a common basis for acceptable conduct, and to which all Members are expected to adhere to and comply with.

A Code of Conduct encourages the public's right to expect that its representatives adhere to the highest standards of conduct. Adherence to such standards will in turn help to protect and maintain North Huron's reputation and integrity.

Closed Meeting Investigations

Municipal Councils, Boards and their Committees must meet behind closed doors on occasion to deal with some matters.

Local governments in Ontario must be transparent and accountable. To this end, the Province has set the rules for a Council, Board or a Committee to go into closed session meetings. These guidelines can be found in Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001. These are strict rules and must be followed by municipalities.

Permitted Reasons for Closed Session Meetings

The security of the 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 or a municipally-controlled corporation by the Ombudsman or the municipality’s closed meeting investigator; or
A meeting held for the purpose of educating or training the Members, and in which does not materially advance the business or decision-making of the Council, Local Board or Committee.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Closed Meetings

Can meetings be closed if they fall within those exceptions?

Not all meetings must be closed even if they fall within the exceptions noted above. Twelve of the fourteen exceptions are discretionary, meaning that whenever possible, municipalities should opt to discuss the subjects in public, in the interest of transparency. The legislation leaves municipalities the flexibility to keep the doors open. The two exceptions that state meetings must be closed relate to:

Requests under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
An on-going investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman or the municipality’s closed meeting investigator or ombudsman.

Can votes be taken during a closed meeting?

Generally, meetings cannot be closed to the public during the taking of a vote. Voting in a closed meeting is only permitted if the closed meeting is otherwise authorized and the vote is for a procedural matter or for giving directions or instructions to officers, employees, agents of the municipality, or persons under contract. All votes should be taken formally, in accordance with the procedure by-law, and recorded in the closed meeting minutes.

Complaint Procedure

Anyone can make a complaint by following the proper procedure and by using the form provided in Appendix B to the Code of Conduct Policy. The below information provides further details on the complaint procedure:

Complaints can be made by filing a sworn/affirmed affidavit, as provided in Appendix B to the Code of Conduct, directly with the Integrity Commissioner or Clerk.
When a complaint is filed with the Clerk, that individual is to forward the complaint to the attention of the Integrity Commissioner, without added comment, as soon as possible.
When a complaint is filed by an Employee, Member of Council, or by Council, the affidavit contained in Appendix B to the Code of Conduct is not required, however similar information must be submitted.
A complaint shall not be made available to the public except as may be required under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) or as completed by Order of Court.

Integrity Commissioner

The Township of North Huron has appointed Aird Berlis LLP as the Municipal Integrity Commissioner and Closed Meeting Investigator. The role of the Integrity Commissioner is to help ensure that Members of Council perform their functions in accordance with a Code of Conduct, and other procedures, rules or policies governing their ethical behaviour.

Integrity Commissioner Contact Information:

John Mascarin, Aird Berlis LLP

P: 416-865-7721 | E: jmascarin@airdberlis.com

Freedom of Information

The Township of North Huron strives to provide as much information as possible to the public without the necessity of submitting a formal Freedom of Information Request. If you would like to access our records, please contact the Clerk’s Department at 519-357-3550. We will let you know if we can release the information informally, or if you need to complete a formal access request.

Submitting a Formal Request

The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) provides you the right to request access to government-held information, including information about you. You can request access to general information held by provincial and municipal government institutions by making a freedom of information request.

How do I make a freedom of information request?

There are three steps:

Find the institution most likely to have the information you are looking for
Complete a request form or write a letter requesting the information
Forward your completed request form to the Freedom of Information Coordinator, along with the $5.00 application fee

For all freedom of information requests to the Township of North Huron, please provide your request in person or by mail to

Municipal Clerk
Township of North Huron
P.O. Box 90, 274 Josephine Street
Wingham, Ontario
N0G 2W0

You should receive a response within 30 days. For more information visit the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) website or contact the Clerk’s Department.