EP 16: Municipal Complaints and Closed Meetings: What Went Wrong Across New Brunswick

Описание: Are councils allowed to handle complaints against themselves behind closed doors?

Yesterday we talked about open meetings under the Local Governance Act and the ten very specific circumstances where council is legally allowed to meet in closed session. Today, we’re zooming in on what caused controversy across New Brunswick last year: formal complaints being discussed in private.

Here’s what happened.

Many municipalities were holding closed meetings when formal complaints were lodged against members of council. The assumption? That complaints were a “labor and employment matter.”

But the Local Governance Commission stepped in and clarified something crucial:
Mayor and council are not employees. They’re elected representatives.

That means complaints against them do not fall under the “labor and employment” exception for closed meetings.

So what followed?
The Commission issued guidance reminding municipalities to follow Section 68 of the Local Governance Act
A 2024 amendment required every municipality to have a Code of Conduct
Municipalities, including St. Stephen, were directed to review and update their Code of Conduct bylaws

We now have updated requirements under the Local Governance Act that spell out exactly what must be included in a Code of Conduct and how formal complaints are to be handled.

This matters for you because:
You’re entitled to open meetings except in very narrow circumstances
You’re entitled to understand the complaint process
You should know what qualifies as a formal complaint and what doesn’t
You should know how to properly engage with council

Transparency isn’t optional. It’s regulated. But what does transparency actually mean in practice? If we’re going to rebuild trust in local government, we need to make this information accessible and understandable, not opaque.

Tomorrow, we’ll walk through the complaint process itself: what qualifies, how it works, and what residents can actually expect.

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