No info after closed-door meeting on ‘personal matters’ at London city hall

There was no information made public on Monday, after city councillors spent nearly 2.5 hours behind closed doors.

“Happy to report progress on the matter for which we went into camera for,” said Coun. Paul Hubert, when councillors and city staffers returned to council chambers around 3 p.m.

They’d received an email about the meeting on Saturday, to discuss “personal matters,” according to the agenda.

At around 5 p.m., the city issued a statement on behalf of city manager, Martin Hayward, which made no reference to the meeting that finished less than two hours earlier.

“We are committed to ensuring a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination of any kind,” wrote Hayward.

“We have a number of policies and procedures in place to support this – they are well-established, having been in place since the early 2000s. But they are also reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure they continue to support us in living up to our commitments to our people.”

The statement goes on to encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed behaviour that doesn’t align with safe workplace policies to come forward, saying the city takes any concerns “very seriously.”

“Our ongoing focus is on providing a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination for all of our employees.”

Coun. Tanya Park was the only councillor who didn’t attend the meeting, which began at around 1 p.m.