The Ontario ombudsman says London's Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee did not break any laws when members held a private meeting in regards to the old Victoria Hospital lands.
Ombudsman Andrew Marin received a complaint on March 3 in regards to a meeting held in-camera on March 2.
According to the complainant, the meeting in regards to the old hospital site should have been held in open session. However, the committee cited the Municipal Act, stating the information was “advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege."
The ombudsman says the committee voted to proceed in camera at it's scheduled March 2 meeting in council chambers. The members considered confidential legal advice in regards to decommissioning the hospital lands and heard from the city planner about expression of interest in the land. All background information had previously made public and was not discussed at the meeting. All of these things fall within the Municipal Act's guidelines and were not in any way a violation of the act.
Since that meeting, it has been announced that three out of four historic buildings at the former Old Victoria Hospital lands will remain.
Council voted to save the 1922 portion of the War Memorial Children's Hospital, the entire Colborne Building and the Health Sciences Building. The former Gartshore Nurses Residence will meet the wrecking ball.
Since 2011, the ombudsman says its office has gotten more than 80 complaints about the City of London, including some about closed meetings held by the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.
