Municipal Act 239 (1) Except as provided in this section, all meetings shall be open to the public. 2001, c. 25, s. 239 (1). Municipal Act
Adoption of policies
270 (1) A municipality shall adopt and maintain policies with respect to 5. The manner in which the municipality will try to ensure that it is accountable to the public for its actions, and the manner in which the municipality will try to ensure that its actions are transparent to the public.
Transparency and accountability are not possible if no links are provided and people are unaware of the steps they need to take when the town does not post links to view meetings.
An example of no link posted on Amherstburg.ca: click on picture to view full screen.
The Town of Amherstburg’s Transparency and Accountability Policy contains definitions:
4.1. Accountability in this policy refers to the principle that the Town is obligated to demonstrate and take responsibility for its actions, decision and policies.
4.8. Transparency means how outside parties, such as the public, are able to observe how the decisions of Council, Staff, Committees and Local Boards are made. The Town of Amherstburg actively encourages and fosters stakeholder engagement in its decision making process.
Workaround:
Locate the date of the meeting in the council/committee calendar section of the town’s website.
Click on the html link of the Agenda column; it’s faster to load than the pdf.
Select/highlight https://www.amherstburg.ca/livestream.
Right click and choose options to open in new tab, new window or copy and paste into browser.
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