Why are some meetings closed to the public?

Municipal Councils, local boards and their committees must meet behind closed doors on occasion to deal with some matters. The purpose of such a closed meeting is to receive information or give direction. The Town of Grand Valley's Town Council decides whether a meeting will be closed to the public. Instances where a municipality must close a meeting to the public include:

• The security of the property of the Town
• Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees
• A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the Town
• Labour relations or employee negotiations
• Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals (e.g. Ontario Municipal Board), affecting the Town or local board
• Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege
• A matter in respect of which the council, board, committee or other body may hold a closed meeting under another Act
• Information explicitly supplied in confidence to the Town 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 Town which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interefere 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 Town 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 Town
• The consideration of a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, where Council is designated as Head of the Institution for the purposes of the Act