Council members that met in mayor’s office confident they did not violate open meeting rules

London Mayor Josh Morgan and two council colleagues assert that a closed door meeting in the mayor’s office did not violate transparency rules in the Municipal Act.

A photo posted to X on Tuesday by London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos shows the attendees sitting around a boardroom table in the mayor’s office.

The caption reads in part, “Today, I met with Mayor Josh Morgan, and councillors Elizabeth Peloza, Shawn Lewis, and Steve Lehman to discuss the impact of tariffs on our local economy and what it means for municipalities going forward on issues like procurement and housing.”

The four council members in the photo all have seats on the Planning and Environment Committee (PEC), and would constitute enough members to hold a planning meeting.

However, the mayor says the issues discussed were related to the potential impact of federal tariffs, so he’s confident that no open meeting rules were violated.

“I have no concerns at all. We weren’t discussing matters that were related to the planning committee, in any sort of way. We didn’t discuss any sort of development applications or changes of municipal policy related to housing,” Morgan told CTV News.

According to the Municipal Act, two criteria must both be met for a gathering of municipal politicians to be considered a committee meeting.

1.A quorum of committee members is present

2. The committee members discuss or otherwise deal with any matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision-making of the council, local board, or committee

“There was no discussion [that] we need to change [a] municipal policy. There was no advancing of any particular planning applications,” Deputy Mayor Lewis explained. “And in fact, when it comes to our procurement policies, that would actually go to Infrastructure and Corporate Services, not Planning [and Environment].”

Steve Lehman, chair of the Planning Committee added, “What I was able to share with the MP was things that I’ve been hearing [about tariff impacts] as I’ve been doing my due diligence and speaking to those in the community.”

Morgan described that discussion as similar to when groups of councillors collectively lobby provincial and federal representatives at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference and Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Conference each year.

Municipal committees and councils can only go behind closed doors for confidential discussions about a short list of topics including real estate transactions, personnel matters, and legal advice

The Ontario Ombudsman is London city hall’s closed meeting investigator.

In January 2024, an Ombudsman’s Report determined that three city councillors violated open meeting rules by touring the Unity Project together prior to participating in a Community and Protective Services Committee meeting about a funding request by the homelessness agency.

Lewis suggested Tuesday’s meeting in the mayor’s office was a completely different situation.

“This was more about federal policy than municipal policy, in terms of the federal government and MP Fragiskatos just wanting to hear from a municipal perspective,” the deputy mayor says. “There are things that shouldn’t be tariffed by the federal government because they’re going to have a significant impact on our ability to do sewers and water (infrastructure) and reach our housing targets.”