A third-party report says there was no wrongdoing when five members of Guelph City Council walked out of a closed council meeting in January.
A complaint was filed with the city saying that the five members of council walked out of a closed meeting and held their own closed meeting on January 25. The in-camera council meeting had to end because it no longer contained enough councillors to achieve quorum.
The city brought in Local Authority Services, a private company that investigates council procedures and matters as they pertain to the Municipal Act, to look into the situation.
Councillors Phil Alt, Cathy Downer, James Gordon, Leanne Piper and Mike Salisbury were the ones that left the closed meeting.
The complainant provided no evidence that the five "held their own meeting," the report that goes to council for information on Monday.
The investigation points out that there was only four minutes between the in-camera meeting ending and the open session resuming.
Essentially, not enough time to hold a "private" meeting.
"No evidence was provided to support the allegation that an improper closed meeting was held," the report to council states.
"In order to conduct an investigation, the investigator must be provided with some evidence, not just speculation."
Furthermore, the report states that the five councillors did not constitute enough members of council for it to be considered a "meeting" in the sense it did not have the required number.
