Rule No. 3
Confidential
Information
1. No
Member shall disclose or release by any means to any member of the public, any
confidential information acquired by virtue of their office, in either oral or
written form,
except when required by law or authorized by Council to do so.
2. No
Member shall use confidential information for personal or private gain, or for
the gain
of relatives or any person or corporation.
3. No
Member shall directly or indirectly benefit, or aid others to benefit, from
knowledge
respecting bidding on the sale of City property or assets.
4. No
Member shall disclose the content of any such matter, or the substance of
deliberations,
of the in-camera meeting until the Council or committee
discusses the information at
a meeting that is open to the public or
releases the information to the public.
5. No
Member shall permit any persons other than those who are entitled thereto
to have
access to information that is confidential.
6. No
Member shall access or attempt to gain access to confidential information
in the
custody of the City unless it is necessary for the performance of
their duties and not
prohibited by Council policy.
Commentary:
Confidential
information includes information in the possession of the City that the City is
either prohibited from disclosing, or is required to refuse to disclose, such
as under Access and Privacy legislation. Such legislation imposes mandatory or
discretionary restrictions on disclosure of information received in confidence
from third parties of a corporate, commercial, scientific or technical nature,
personal information about an individual disclosure of which would constitute
an unjustified invasion of privacy, and information that is subject to
solicitor-client privilege. Where it is clear that a communication was not made
in a confidential manner (ie.
copied to others, or made in the presence of others) or the manner of
communication undermines the validity of labelling it ‘confidential’, such
communication will not be given any higher level of confidentiality than any
other communication. The words
‘privileged’, ‘confidential’, or ‘private’ will not be understood to preclude
the appropriate sharing of the communication for the limited purpose of
reviewing, responding or looking into the subject-matter of the communication.
For
the purposes of the Code of Conduct, “confidential information” may also
include information that concerns personnel, labour relations, litigation,
property acquisitions, the security of the property of the City or a local
board, and matters authorized in other legislation, to remain confidential.
Under
the Procedural By-law, a matter that has been legitimately discussed at an
in-camera (closed) meeting remains confidential, until such time as a condition renders the
matter public.
Requests
for information should be referred to appropriate staff to be addressed as
either an informal request for access to municipal records or as a formal
request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Act.
Particular
care should be exercised in ensuring confidentiality of the following types of
information:
- the security of
the property of the municipality or local board;
- personal
information about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local
body employees;
- a proposed or
pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local
board;
- labour relations
or employee negotiations and personnel matters.
- litigation or
potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals,
affecting the municipality or local board;
- advice that is
subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary
for that purpose;
- a matter in
respect of which a council, board, committee or other body may hold a
closed meeting under another Act;
- items under
contract negotiation
- price schedules
in contract tender or Request For Proposal submissions
- statistical data
required by law not to be released (e.g. certain census or assessment
data)
|