A long and winding road
By Greg Kielec A city councillor who claims he was bul- lied during a closed session of Cornwall city council has called in an investigator to probe the case. Councillor Andre Rivette sent a complaint to the city’s closed meeting investigator, Stephen Fournier, early last week. It is expected that Fournier’s investigation will take about a month to complete. It may involve interviews of council members as well as the review of relevant city records. The city, on a section of its website entitled ClosedMeeting Investigations, notes that the city “shall ensure” that requests for closed neeting investigations “are dealt with in a fair, open and expeditious manner.” “The Corporation of the City of Cornwall shall ensure any report received from the In- vestigator related to an investigation under the Act, is placed on a public Agenda and that consideration of such reports are con- ducted in an open public session of Council and/or a Standing Committee of Council,” the section continues. Rivette complained to The Journal in early March that he had been “sandbagged” dur- ing a closed session of council on Feb. 27, just days after he quoted a figure of $1.4 million in settlements and legal fees paid out by the city the past year. The veteran councillor said at the time that the issue, which appeared to revolve around a subsequent video interview he did with The Cornwall Free News, should have never been discussed behind closed doors. greg.kielec@eap.on.ca Rivette launches closed meeting complaint
By Greg Kielec It will be up to an Ontario adjudicator to decide if the city should release de- tails of the departure of a former Glen Stor Dun Lodge administrator. The Journal’s request from any docu- ments, motions or resolutions regarding the departure of Donna Derouchie had been re- ferred to Tara Coccimilgio, a mediator with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. In a letter dated March 7, Coccimiligio wrote that mediation was unable to proceed because “the affected party”, Derouchie, did not consent to the release of the infor- mation. “No further mediation was possible and accordingly, this file is moving to adjudica- tion.” Derouchie quietly left Glen Stor Dun Lodge in July 2011, just weeks before the city was to be tried on a charge of intimidat- ing a whisteblower. The city pleaded guilty to retaliating against Health and Safety Of- ficer Diane Shay in October 2011. The Journal filed an appeal with the Infor- mation and Privacy Commissioner of On- tario under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection to Privacy Act after the city denied a request for details surrounding the departure of Derouchie late last year. According to Coccimiligio, “the records Request for details of Derouchie settlement heading to adjudicator
Photo by Greg Kielec Pictured above is the cover page of a letter, received by The Journal from the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, notifying the newspaper its re- quest for information on a settlement with a former city administrator is heading to ad- judication.
ests; Section 12 relating to solicitor-client privilege; Section 14 relation to invasion of privacy. It could take up to a year for the case to make its way through adjudication, accord- ing to Coccimiligio. Follow @gkielec on Twitter. For breaking news, go to www.editionap.ca and click on The Journal. Email greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
remaining at issue consist of Minutes of Set- tlement and Release Agreement, Minutes In-Camera Committee of Council and one five-page letter with a three-page attach- ment.” The city has referred to four separate sec- tions of the Ontario Municipal Act is sup- port of its refusal to release the information: Section 6 of the Act relating to closed meet- ings; Section 11 relating to economic inter-
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