CITY COUNCIL – FOI inquiry dropped but Middleton criticizes mayor’s actions

The cancellation of an inquiry by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner doesn’t mean Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson didn’t breach his statutory obligations, according to Coun. Margot Middleton.

She confirmed at Tuesday’s (March 25, 2026) City council meeting that the OIPC has abandoned its inquiry due to withdrawal of a freedom of information application by iNFOnews.ca. Middleton was appointed as an intervenor by the council after the online publication filed a complaint saying the City had failed to provide records of the mayor’s communications last June and July.

Hamer-Jackson insists he texted the records to Middleton last August but she said she didn’t receive them. After council approved her motion at the last meeting to sanction him if he didn’t provide the records within 24 hours, he again texted her but she said they were not the right records.

Furthermore, she said, the mayor had revealed personal information about a former staff member along with records he texted directly to inFOnews in response to the FOI application.

“The mayor’s conduct has repeatedly fallen short,” she said.

Hamer-Jackson wanted to know the name of the City’s IT department employee who Middleton says confirmed she didn’t receive the texted records on her cellphone last year. When corporate officer Maria Mazzotta said revealing the identify of the employee wouldn’t be appropriate, the mayor asked Middleton to email him the name.

“I will email you nothing,” Middleton said, adding that the mayor had texted her 145 times.

“That’s a hundred and 45 you didn’t answer,” said Hamer-Jackson.