Rideau Lakes councillors rejected a confidentiality agreement tied to the proposed ALTO high-speed rail project, raised concerns about Ontario procurement rules and dealt with a slate of financial, staffing and governance matters during their latest meeting.
Council also caught up on a missed provincial budget reporting requirement, narrowly approved requests for 10 staff reports and formally extended virtual meetings through the remainder of the term.
These discussions happened during a regular meeting of council on Sept. 8.
Rideau Lakes council rejects ALTO confidentiality agreement
A proposed confidentiality agreement with ALTO won’t be signed after councillors opted to keep the township’s involvement with the proposed high-speed rail project in the public realm.
Council directed staff to continue advocating for the township and its residents using publicly available information and established consultation and approval processes.
“The timing for five years of 2026 to 2031 is just too long to go into an NDA. I require more information on what the ALTO projects actually do imply,” said Coun. Sue Dunfield.
The decision followed a legal review that warned the agreement could restrict what council and staff could tell residents. It also did not allow either party to terminate it unilaterally, while some confidentiality obligations could continue after the agreement ended.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Banks also questioned the practicality of keeping information confidential given the potential impact on landowners.
“There’s going to be a lot of properties that are going to have to be expropriated, so anything that they say to anybody or any township that they’re going to go through is not going to be kept confidential,” Banks said.
Council has previously stated its preferred outcome is that no high-speed rail corridor be built within Rideau Lakes.
The United Counties of Prescott and Russell, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and Township of Stone Mills have also reportedly declined ALTO confidentiality agreements.
Township pushes back on Buy Ontario rules
New provincial procurement rules could drive up municipal costs and leave rural communities with too little flexibility, councillors warned this week.
Council approved a letter to Premier Doug Ford outlining concerns with the Municipal Buy Ontario Procurement Directive under the Buy Ontario Act, while stressing it supports the broader goal of strengthening Ontario businesses and keeping public spending within the province.
The township argues municipalities, particularly rural ones, need greater discretion when Ontario suppliers are unavailable or when local purchasing requirements would significantly increase costs. Procurement decisions must also account for affordability, availability, timelines, operational needs and overall value for taxpayers.
“It ties the hands of the municipalities where the private sectors can do whatever they want. It’s going to cost the municipalities millions of dollars to try and do this. We’ll be buying stuff like interior doors for $2,000, when we can get them somewhere else for $300,” Banks said.
Council is asking the province to give municipal CAOs greater authority to determine, case by case, when Buy Ontario requirements do not provide the best value or operational outcome.
Missed 2025 budget report prompts catch-up
An overlooked provincial reporting requirement has prompted the township to approve two financial reports at once, bringing its 2025 and 2026 budget reporting up to date.
Ontario Regulation 284/09 requires municipalities that exclude certain accounting expenses from their annual budgets, including amortization and some capital asset costs, to prepare a separate report outlining those exclusions and their impact. Rideau Lakes prepares its regular municipal budget on a modified cash, or tax levy, basis rather than full Public Sector Accounting Standards accounting.
Treasurer Dave Schur told council the 2025 report should have been completed following adoption of that year’s budget but was missed.
“So the 2025 should have been filed last year. It was an oversight on my behalf, kind of being new at it. When we were working on the 2025 audit, the auditors actually brought it to my attention. So that’s why we’re doing two right now,” Schur said.
The PSAS-adjusted figures show an annual surplus of approximately $2.74 million for 2025 and $2.34 million for 2026.
Schur said future PSAS reports will come to council immediately following adoption of the annual budget.
10 staff reports requested in narrow vote
Staff have been directed to produce updates on 10 municipal issues after councillors narrowly approved a wide-ranging request in a 5-4 recorded vote.
The motion, brought forward by Dunfield, seeks reports ranging from tax sale properties and asset management to road improvements, recreation facilities, community halls and use of the township’s pump track.
Other requested updates include proposed 2026 allocations from the Parkland Reserve Fund, the status of Circular Materials discussions, councillor mileage rates for 2027 and improvements completed at the Ronald E. Holman Municipal Complex.
Much of the debate centred on the amount of additional work the motion could create for staff and whether all of the requested reports were necessary.
“There’s significant work here that we’re putting on the staff, when they’re already burdened with the audit, with the election, and so on and so forth. And some of this information is available to councillors if they go back and look at the budget,” Mayor Arie Hoogenboom said.
Despite those concerns, council approved the motion. Staff were directed to bring the requested reports forward as they are able, with no deadline established.
Virtual meetings formally extended to end of term
A motion to formally keep council meetings virtual until the end of the term passed 5-4, despite the CAO confirming there were already no plans to return to in-person meetings.
Coun. Paula Banks brought forward the motion to maintain virtual meetings until the end of the 2022-2026 council term. Council first had to set aside its procedural bylaw to consider the motion before eventually approving the resolution in a recorded vote.
The motion cited safety concerns and tensions Banks said had gone well beyond ordinary council disagreement.
“This is not a normal council term. The fracturing council began when a councillor started working with an outside political group and it went to the OPP. I no longer feel safe,” Banks said.
Hoogenboom questioned the need for the motion, noting virtual meetings were already effectively settled.
“I cannot support this resolution. I think this business of meeting virtually is already in place. There’s certainly no plans on anyone’s part to return to in-person meetings,” Hoogenboom said.
He questioned whether the motion was more about airing grievances than determining how council would meet.
“As far as I knew, we are staying virtual until the end of the term of this council,” CAO Shellee Fournier confirmed.
The incoming council will determine its own meeting format.
4 councillors complete health and safety requirements
Four councillors have completed training and documentation stemming from Joint Health and Safety Committee recommendations, Coun. Paula Banks told council.
“Counouncillors Paula Banks, Jeff Banks, Linda Carr, and Debbie Hutchings have done all of the training, we have reviewed the paperwork, we have created and reviewed the documents that were missing, and submitted them to the clerk,” Banks said.
The update follows a series of JHSC recommendations aimed at addressing psychological harm to workers arising from workplace harassment. The committee’s revised recommendations included virtual council meetings, council training, reviews of violence and harassment policies and further work related to psychological health and safety.
In its August update, the JHSC also sought to correct what it described as inaccurate or misleading statements made during earlier council discussions. The committee stressed that no formal work refusal had ever been presented to it and that it had never recommended returning council to in-person meetings.
The committee said updates on completed or outstanding requirements should ultimately be directed through the CAO.
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