The Canadian Human Rights Reporter’s blog post, an article by Jeffrey R. Smith, editor of Canadian Employment Law Today.
Monthly Archives: July 2018
Frank Cleminson To Appeal OCPC Approval Of Windsor Police Take-over
am800 reported FORMER AMHERSTBURG POLICE BOARD CHAIR SPEAKS OUT.
Frank Cleminson says the decision should have happened after the OCPC finished its investigation into the Windsor Police Service.
Between January and April of this year the OCPC says it received complaints from members of Windsor Police Service that raised serious concerns about the workplace environment, the administration, and the oversight provided by the Windsor Police Services Board.
Officially, Windsor Police Will Take-over in Amherstburg
CTV News reports on the official decision.
Mayoral Candidate Glen Swinton On Council’s Focus
am800 reported on Glenn Swinton’s campaign to unseat current mayor Aldo DiCarlo:
He says he’s not a fan with how the current council operates.
“I think that the focus of our current council, the strengthen of our current council kind of needs a revision,” says Swinton. “As I watch how they handle certain aspects of what they deal with and how they’re handling it, I find our mayor is not entirely operating as the head of council and I find that our council is kind of following a lead for the sake of ease.”
Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic Survey
A survey on the nurse practitioner led clinic is at the town of Amherstburg’s website.
Once again, there is no posting about alternate accessible methods of communication. Additionally, a sign in is required whereas residents may want to have a say without their identities being required.
There is also, once again, no notice about the collection of personal information pursuant to the legislation.
As mentioned in the Privacy Concerns Regarding Downtown Survey Founded, the Information and Privacy Commissioner Ontario confirmed that the Town of Amherstburg’s advertisement regarding the downtown use survey did not satisfy all of the notice requirements in section 29(2) of the Act.
Specifically, it did not notify residents of the legal authority for the collection of their personal information or provide information about whom to contact with any questions about the collection.
Amherstburg Wants To Rebrand, Again
The Windsor Star reported, earlier this year town council earmarked $75,000 to develop a fresh campaign strategy for attracting visitors and investors.
In May, the Windsor Star reported on the plan moving forward and how Cinnamon Toast New Media Inc. — a company with offices in Hamilton and Ottawa — was tapped as the winning bidder from a pool of 16. The bids were ranked according to criteria including experience with similar projects and the proponent’s strategy and presentation.
“As much as we want to keep everything local, it has to be a competitive process,” said DiCarlo. “They provided the best proposal to the town.”
With the abundance of town staff, one could question why such an expenditure was necessary.
When the rebranding issue was discussed by council in 2013, the River Town Times reported Councillor Pouget questioned the cost and lack of public input.
What has changed?
Surverymonkey. Residents can fill out an online survey. Shamefully, though, there is no posting about alternate accessible formats for people with disabilities.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
FOI Access To Windsor Policing Proposal Denied
Mayor DiCarlo advised me the OPP and Windsor responses would be made public after the consultant and steering committee reviewed the responses and council received the reports.
However, as mentioned in this post, Town Clerk Paula Parker advised I would have to request it from Windsor Police Services directly. On June 11, the Windsor Police Privacy Coordinator advised I must make an access request, pursuant to the Municipal Freedom of Information Act.
The Windsor Police Service has denied access to the proposal in its entirety, citing the following exemptions:
Law enforcement
8 (1) A head may refuse to disclose a record if the disclosure could reasonably be expected to,
(c) reveal investigative techniques and procedures currently in use or likely to be used in law enforcement;
(e) endanger the life or physical safety of a law enforcement officer or any other person;
(g) interfere with the gathering of or reveal law enforcement intelligence information respecting organizations or persons;
(l) facilitate the commission of an unlawful act or hamper the control of crime.
Third party information
10 (1) A head shall refuse to disclose a record that reveals a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence implicitly or explicitly, if the disclosure could reasonably be expected to,
(a) prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization;
Economic and other interests
11 A head may refuse to disclose a record that contains,
(c) information whose disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the economic interests of an institution or the competitive position of an institution;
(f) plans relating to the management of personnel or the administration of an institution that have not yet been put into operation or made public;
(g) information including the proposed plans, policies or projects of an institution if the disclosure could reasonably be expected to result in premature disclosure of a pending policy decision or undue financial benefit or loss to a person;
Application of Act
52
(3) Subject to subsection (4), this Act does not apply to records collected, prepared, maintained or used by or on behalf of an institution in relation to any of the following:
1. Proceedings or anticipated proceedings before a court, tribunal or other entity relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution.
2. Negotiations or anticipated negotiations relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution between the institution and a person, bargaining agent or party to a proceeding or an anticipated proceeding.
3. Meetings, consultations, discussions or communications about labour relations or employment-related matters in which the institution has an interest.
Town Business Should Be Transparent
The River Town Times article on the recent Ombudsman Report mentioned Mayor Aldo DiCarlo said in the three-and-a-half years this council has been in office, it is only the second time that an Ombudsman’s report has found contraventions.
Letter to the editor RTT
Re: Ombudsman finds contravention in how JPAC, council handled meetings.
The article noted Mayor DiCarlo’s comment that during this council’s term, this is only the second contravention found by the Ombudsman.
Mayor DiCarlo referred to the early contravention and how town clerk Paula Parker’s absence resulted in uncertainty about in camera reasons. However, the Ombudsman noted the Chief Administrative Officer and the acting Clerk were present at the meeting.
In its first contravention, the Ombudsman concluded this Council was not permitted to discuss bank signing authorities in closed session at the meeting, and in doing so violated the Act.
The second contravention was of the Municipal Act, 2001 and the municipality’s procedure by-law when this council approved accounts payable over email in December 2014 and January 2015.
The third contravention, and current Ombudsman Report, noted council violated the Municipal Act in closing a meeting under the security of the property and the JPAC failed to comply with its terms of reference in closing several meetings using the security of the property exception.
Mayor DiCarlo made comparisons to the previous council’s violations.
The Ombudsman website lists ten Reports on Amherstburg: of the six during the previous council’s term, three were negative and of the four on this council, three were negative.
Experienced staff and council members should have known the meeting exceptions and in camera criteria, especially if previous Ombudsman recommendations were implemented.
How disappointing that transparency and accountability has to be legislated but can so easily be set aside to conduct business on behalf of ratepayers while excluding them.
Linda Saxon
10 Days To Register As Council Candidates
Candidates have until July 27 to file nomination papers.
From the town’s website, which still has some access issues despite finally hiring an outside firm:
Candidate Forms and Resources:
CAO Miceli’s Court Absence Explained
In The Windsor Star article, Judge in Angela Berry fraud trial threatens to issue arrest warrant for Amherstburg CAO Miceli, Berry’s lawyer, Linda McCurdy, referenced a post from Miceli’s Facebook page that showed him and six other men piled into a vehicle under the caption, “On a road trip with my boys.”
The Windsor Star has since reported on Miceli’s July 9 court appearance with his lawyer, Andrew Bradie, and the explanation that he was busy with town business.
“When Mr. Miceli saw the article in the Windsor Star, he was concerned for the bad publicity which he received, and for the fact that the continuation of the trial date had been set in direct conflict with a pre-paid vacation that he had scheduled with his family.”
Given Miceli was concerned about negative publicity, did he take whatever action he could to avoid it? Did he prioritize his court appearance by arranging his schedule so there was no conflict with town business? Was he unable to delegate the town business to other town staff? Did he notify the Crown Attorney of his inability to attend court as per the subpoena?
the burg watch 