An online information meeting with Ontario’s Hockey League Commissioner called by Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff and attended by seven councillors he specifically invited did not break any rules.
That’s the word from C-K Integrity Commissioner Suzanne Craig, who probed the matter following inquiries from the public and members of council asking if the session met the requirements of the 2001 Municipal Act.
According to Craig’s ruling, the meeting didn’t violate the Act or the Code of Conduct for municipal councillors. No quorum was present at the meeting; no municipal business was advanced and the session was not considered to be a meeting under the Act, Craig wrote.
As a result, the integrity commissioner, who is also a “closed-meeting investigator,” concluded “there was no conduct that ran afoul of the Municipal Act or applicable open meeting rules.”
However, Craig also stated that despite the “technical lawfulness” of such gatherings, there are “important” cautions.
“Such gatherings run the risk of undermining public confidence and engendering suspicion, particularly if concern or opinions about council business are expressed at the gathering.”
Canniff acknowledged that all of council should have been included in the initial meeting with the OHL. He has issued an official public apology and committed to including all of council in “broader engagement,” enhancing transparency and keeping residents informed as OHL-related discussions progress.
After the original online session in February, members of council who were left off the invite spoke openly about their displeasure of not being asked to attend and being left in the dark about what transpired.
To remedy that, Caniff invited OHL Commission Bryan Crawford to make a presentation to council March 23, where he shared the same information.
