Your Municipality should have a feedback/complaint policy that explains the steps you will need to take to alert them to your concern.  If your Municipality does not have a formal complaint policy, then you can phone/email the Officer/Employee who oversees the municipal service or the most Senior Administrator (CAO/Clerk-Treasurer, etc.) and advise them of your complaint.

• It is important to note that individual members of Council are not the “complaints department”.  Contacting them often delays your concern being addressed.
• If your concern is about the work performance of an employee who is not the most Senior Administrator, phone/email the Officer/Employee who oversees the department the Employee works in or the most Senior Administrator.
• If your concern is about the work performance of the most Senior Administrator, contact the Mayor.
• If your concern is about the behavior of the Mayor or a member of Council, review your Municipality’s Code of Conduct for Council and if necessary, contact the Integrity Commissioner. To find out who your Municipality’s Integrity Commissioner is, check the Municipality’s website (if they have one) or call the Municipal Office.  You can view the map on the “contact the IC” tab of our website to see if E4m has been appointed as the IC for your Municipality.
• If your concern is about a decision that Council has made:
• Follow the steps in the feedback/complaint policy.
• If there is no policy, ask to be a delegation at a meeting of Council or send a letter to Council. Make sure that you follow what is set out in your Municipality’s Procedure Bylaw.  Many times, members of the public have expressed concerns that their matter did not get before Council at a certain meeting.  This is often the result of not submitting the request in the way the Procedure Bylaw requires.
• If your concern is about a Bylaw that Council passed, you can apply to the Court at your own cost to have the Bylaw quashed/overturned.
• If your concern is about something Council considered in a Closed Meeting that you believe should have been talked about in the open part of the Council Meeting contact your Municipality’s Closed Meeting Investigator (in many Municipalities this would be the Ombudsman).
• If you have tried to resolve your concern by following the steps we have outlined, and your concern has not been resolved, you may wish to contact the Office of the Ombudsman (https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/home).

It is important when expressing your concerns to the Municipality that you be respectful.  We know this can often be difficult when you are frustrated, however, being clear and respectful about your concern and how you might like to see it resolved will be more helpful than expressing anger or frustration.  Consider that members of Council and Municipal Officers/Employees are trying to do the best job they can for ALL residents of the Municipality.  While your concern is important to you and you want it resolved quickly, the Municipality may not have the same priority.It is also helpful to be aware of other rules or policies that may impact your concern being addressed in a timely manner or at all.  Some examples are:

• Expected Behavior Policy
• Workplace Violence and Harassment Policy
• Frivolous and Vexatious Complaints Policy

We often hear members of the Public say that Council is not being accountable and/or Transparent.  This seems to occur most often when an individual is not able to access information they want, they do not agree with a decision Council has made or they see a policy/bylaw that Council has adopted as targeting them only.

We find that sometimes there is confusion about what it means to be accountable or transparent.  Simply put, accountability means that Council explains how they will behave, how municipal processes work and how they will make decisions; transparency means that they conduct municipal business in such a way that information is openly available to the Public (except for information they are required by law to keep confidential).

Municipalities are the most Accountable and Transparent level of government in Ontario! The Ontario Municipal Act requires that every Municipality adopt a policy/bylaw that explains to the Public how they are going to act in an accountable and transparent manner.  If you are concerned that your Municipality is not being accountable and transparent, look on their website or ask for a copy of their policy/bylaw.  If you still feel that they have not been acting in an accountable or transparent manner refer to our answer on how to get your concern addressed.

Individual Members of Council should not make promises to individuals.  An individual member of Council has no authority to make things happen.  The Municipal Act requires that Council make decisions in an open public forum (unless the law allows otherwise), as a body.  They have no authority to make decisions, in this case promise you something, outside of a Council meeting.

If you have a question that has not been addressed here, feel free to contact E4m