Law Times

Page 10 June 24, 2013 Law Times • FOCUS Rancour grows between local councils, Marin Controversy centres on right to counsel during meeting probes and had no first-hand knowlto an investigation. edge of what happened, acThe issue, however, hasn't cording to Orser. Instead, they ended. London Coun. Stephen were simply people who had Orser is among the more vocal he rancour between Onread the news story. of Marin's critics when it comes tario ombudsman AnHis other concerns include to the meeting issue. "Under dré Marin and a couple having the right to disclosure the Charter of Rights, we have of municipal councils and the ability to have a lawyer freedom of association," says — notably those in Sudbury and for what Orser calls a "legal proOrser, who has publicly deLondon, Ont. — continues as the cess" that involves summonses clared his right to dine with watchdog maintains his campaign and consequences for, among whoever he chooses. against closed meetings. other things, refusing to abide "The rights of people acThe latest issue dates back to by a subpoena. In addition, he cused of this should be upheld," March when Marin's office antakes issue with Marin's use of he adds. nounced an investigation into Twitter to provide information Orser has a number of concomplaints about an allegedly on issues related to his office. cerns with the investigation improper in camera meeting at The rancour between process related to municipal a local restaurant in London on meetings. First, he's critical of London Coun. Stephen Orser would like to see André Marin and some municipal Feb. 23. On March 8, the office the fact people can make anon- Marin removed from investigating closed-door politicians has grown to the exnoted it had already received 60 tent that some councillors have ymous complaints about meet- meetings in his city. complaints that the gathering of been calling for his removal ings after which Marin, in some local councillors may have viofrom overseeing the opencases, then comes out with during the course of the investigalated the open-meeting requirepublic statements announcing tion. He notes that in the February meeting issue in their municipalments of the Municipal Act. It an investigation. In Orser's view, case, there were 35 complaints ity. In Sudbury, the local council was the highest number of comthe process allows complainants, following a news story about the took that step this year. The move plaints received in relation to a who may have a political agenda, gathering at the restaurant. Many followed a public spat between single incident since the ombudsto damage politicians' reputations of the complainants weren't there council members and Marin man began dealing with closed when several of them insisted on having the city solicitor present for their interviews. According to Marin's October 2012 report on municipal meetings, only three of 13 councillors ultimately agreed to an interview. "It was the worst failure to co-operate I have seen," he wrote in the report. Orser is calling on his council to follow in Sudbury's steps in removing Marin. "I'm to the point where I'm going to make a complaint to the Speaker of the legislature and possibly a complaint to the law society," says Orser, who notes his plan is to move to have council remove Marin after his investigation into the February restaurant gathering. For its part, Marin's office says it's fine with that. "As Mr. Marin has noted several times, municipalities are able to choose to use the free services Inside you will find: of our office or appoint their own investigator," wrote Linda Wilof more liamson, the office's director of communications, in response to than 58,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec questions on the issue. notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and "That's their prerogative under judges in Canada; the law as it now stands. However, if they do choose to use our office for the Supreme Court of as their investigator, they have to Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal accept our processes — the same Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, investigative processes we follow with the hundreds of provincial commissions and Crown corporations; organizations we oversee. We do hundreds of interviews with provincial officials in our investigaFebruary each year related to each province for the Courts of tions every year, and there is a genAppeal, Supreme Courts, County and District eral understanding throughout L88804-590 Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law the government of our role and our work; witnesses understand schools, Legal Aid, and other law-related offices they are required to co-operate in L88804-590 of importance. our investigations, they are not in Prices subject to change without notice, any personal jeopardy, and they do not need legal representation." MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. Marin himself addressed many of the issues raised by councillors in the October report. In respondVisit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation ing to concerns about complainant anonymity, for example, he wrote: "Our findings are wholly based on the facts of the case, not the identity of the complainant. BY GLENN KAUTH Law Times T municipal meetings in 2008. City councillors, however, are fighting back. The latest London case isn't the first matter Marin's office has investigated there. In August, he released a report on a lunch gathering at the Harmony Grand Buffet on Feb. 21, 2012, that involved six members of the London council, including the mayor. The councillors defended the gathering as simply a social occasion. While Marin ultimately accepted that assertion, he was critical of the fact that gathering took place just before an important and controversial vote on the budget. As a result, he reminded councillors that their conduct is subject to public scrutiny and encouraged them to adopt "modern approaches to closed meetings" by, for example, requiring electronic recording of in camera sessions. Such an approach, he suggested, reduces the time and resources necessary to respond CANADIAN LAW LIST 2013 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK See Twitter, page 11 Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-01-29 3:10 PM

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