Ontario’s ombudsman has reprimanded the Haliburton County council over a misstep made over the closure of Minden’s emergency room.
In a December 6 report, Paul Dubé—the province’s ombudsman, who’s in charge of investigating public complaints against Ontario’s government organizations, municipalities, universities, and school boards—found the Haliburton County council had violated the Municipal Act by holding a closed session with members of the Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) to discuss the closure of Minden’s emergency room.
The report reads that Dubé’s office received complaints from the public last spring about a council meeting that took place on April 27, 2023. The county invited the HHHS CEO and board chair to attend the meeting, telling them that it would be in camera—meaning closed to the public.
The topic of discussion was HHHS’s April 20 decision to close Minden’s ER due to staff shortages, a divisive issue that had many in the community concerned about receiving timely medical care. On June 1, the HHHS went through with the closure, consolidating Minden’s ER with the nearby Haliburton Hospital. The decision, however, had not been run by county councillors before April 20, taking local politicians by surprise.
To reverse or slow the impending ER closure, Haliburton County called the April 27 meeting, making the discussion private with the belief that HHHS staff would feel more comfortable having a full and frank discussion.
Under Ontario’s Municipal Act, council can call a closed session if a third party is providing confidential information to the council that could cause harm to the third party if revealed to the public. This was the exception Haliburton County cited when calling the closed meeting.
However, in his report, Dubé wrote: “The HHHS Board Chair confirmed that none of the information supplied to council by the HHHS representatives during the closed session was considered confidential information by the HHHS.”
As a result, Dubé found that Haliburton County had violated the Municipal Act by calling a closed session and restricting information that should have been made public.
“I wish to acknowledge that at the time of the April 27, 2023 meeting, the County was dealing with a community in crisis. The decision to close a local emergency room was unexpected and sparked outrage and fear in residents,” Dubé said. “Council members told my office that as elected officials, they believed the best way to address the situation was to meet with HHHS representatives to reverse or delay the decision. The fact that the closure was imminent added to council’s desire to act quickly. However, the open meeting rules continue to apply, even in times of crisis.”
While the ombudsman has no legal power to overturn the HHHS’ decision to close Minden’s ER or to penalize council for its violation, the ombudsman is able to provide recommendations. In the case of Haliburton County, Dubé recommended that council attempt to operate more transparently and openly during council meetings by ensuring all closed sessions adhere to the Municipal Act.
During its December 13 council meeting, Haliburton County fully accepted the findings and recommendations of Dubé’s report and directed County CAO, Gary Dyke, to review the council’s procedural manuals and provide additional training to council and staff to ensure that this situation is not repeated.
“Unfortunately, given the unknown challenges council faced then, and, more importantly, council’s desire to gain an understanding of the decision-making considerations behind the unforeseen hardship being placed on the community, discussions at the meeting unintentionally went beyond what was permissible under the Municipal Act,” Dyke said in an email. “This matter is being viewed by council and County administration as a learning experience.”
As part of the ombudsman role, Dubé’s office will check in on council to ensure it’s implementing his recommendation.
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