Accountability and Transparency

The Municipality of Lambton Shores is committed to open, transparent government. As part of that commitment and as required under the Municipal Act, Council has appointed an Integrity Commissioner.

Under Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, any individual may request that an investigation be undertaken to determine whether a municipality or local board has complied with the Municipal Act or its Procedure By-law in respect of a meeting or part of a meeting that was closed to the public.

The Municipality of Lambton Shores has appointed the Ontario Ombudsman as the Municipality's Closed Meeting Investigator. Upon receipt of a Closed Meeting complaint, the Ontario Ombudsman will conduct an investigation to determine if topics discussed during Closed Session meetings were in violation of the Municipal Act.

When can a meeting be closed to the Public?

Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended states that a part of a meeting may be closed to the public under the following circumstances:

• The security of property of the municipality or local board;
• Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including local board employees;
• A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board;
• Labour relations or employee negotiations;
• Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
• Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
• A matter in respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act.;
• Information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them;
• A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization;
• A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information that belongs to the municipality or local board and has monetary value or potential monetary value;
• A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

Do you have a concern? 

1. Contact the Clerk's Department to see if they are able to answer your question or concern. 

2. Contact the Ombudsman and complete their Have A Complaint form. 

The Municipal Ombudsman investigates concerns about municipal services and administrative unfairness. We recommend that you speak to the department responsible for the service if you are unhappy with the quality of services you received.

If your concerns have not been addressed or resolved informally, residents must follow our internal form compliant process before sending a complaint to the Ombudsman. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal complaint process, you may then file a complaint with the Municipal Ombudsman.

As per Section 6.1 (1) of the MCIA, every municipality and local board shall establish and maintain a registry. As per 6.1 (2), the registry shall be available for public inspection in the manner and during the time that the municipality or local board determines. The registry will be posted below and contain each declaration.

View the Declaration of Pecuniary Interest Registry

There are a number of reasons a municipality may collect personal information including:

• To establish, administer and maintain billing, payment and other service information
• To process requests for services, requests for information or applications
• To communicate any changes or disruptions in services

The Municipality works to ensure compliance with all applicable legislation and conducts the collection, retention, disclosure and destruction of personal information in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. We collect only the minimum amount of personal information needed and use it only for the purpose for which it is collected.

To start the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Request process, there is a $5.00 filing fee. Payments can be made by cash, cheque or debit at the Municipal Office. Credit cards are not accepted.

Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Request Form

The Municipality does not sell or rent such personal information. Occasionally, the Municipality may be required to disclose the information to outside parties (e.g. law enforcement activities, emergency situations).

Individuals who submit letters and other information to Council should be aware that any personal information contained within their communications may become part of the public record and may be made available through the Council Agenda process and posted on the municipal website.

Municipal Social Media Sites and Web pages (the “Sites”) are intended to be accessible by a public audience.

A person who "posts" content to a Site is referred to herein as a Poster. Postings are subject to the policies of the social media platform which operates the Site or page and also, where not in conflict, to the policies of the Municipality.

By posting comments, photos, videos or other content to one or more of the Sites, the Poster represents that the Poster owns or has the right to post such content and intends to make that content public.

Public content is available to anyone who uses the social media platform and others (via online search engines, application program interfaces, and other forms of media, such as television and magazines).

Information specifically collected as part of an official Municipal public engagement exercise will be kept in accordance with the Municipal Records Retention By-law 48 of 2002.

The Municipality may, at its sole discretion, use content posted to a Site for any purpose.

Posters and other persons use the web, social platforms and the Sites at their own risk. The Municipality is not responsible for any loss or damages suffered by a person who uses a Site or a link contained on a site.

View the complete policy document Social Media Policy.