This week in Belleville: council runs afoul of closed meeting rules – again. And, Ottawa’s latest budget would put Alto on a faster track

For the second time in a year, Belleville City Council has been found to have contravened provincial rules surrounding closed-door meetings. The City’s integrity commissioner, who also serves as the closed meeting investigator, launched a probe following a public complaint over whether procedural rules were followed during in camera discussions about the YMCA’s relocation. Commissioner David G. Boghosian found Council breached the closed-door rules, including when it voted on a “substantive” land swap matter during an in-camera meeting on July 14, 2025 to take back the Old Fairgrounds lands from the YMCA in exchange for allowing the organization to build its new facility on City-owned property on Bridge Street West. However, the commissioner noted the meetings occurred prior to council updating its own procedural rules bylaw this year, which came in response to a similar investigation about council’s closed meetings, and the commissioner indicated the recent bylaw update was sufficient to address his latest concerns.

The integrity commissioner’s report does not undo the land deal that permitted the YMCA’s new-build facility, but it will prompt council to formally declare the Bridge Street West land as surplus to municipal needs in open session at its Monday, Nov. 9, 2026 meeting – the final meeting of this council’s term – something it didn’t do previously, but should have done under Ontario’s closed meeting rules.

The federal government’s 2026 budget aims to “support accelerating” construction of a 1,000 kilometre high-speed rail (HSR) project linking Quebec City and Toronto, with a potential stop in Kingston. In addition to already having new powers to expropriate land for the HSR link, the government’s budget indicated there will be new legislation introduced. “Legislation will streamline expropriation activities and enable early preconstruction work,” according to the budget. It remains unclear whether Alto’s HSR project will impact rural communities north of Belleville as a final route for the Eastern Ontario leg of the fast track line has not been decided.

Some municipal services in Belleville will be impacted on Remembrance Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11. City Hall will be closed for the day. The Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre will remain open but with no City programming and the customer service desk is closed. The public library will remain open. There will be no changes to curbside garbage, green bin and bulky items collection, and public transit will provide regular service. Elmwood Cemetery (412 River Rd.) will hold its annual Remembrance Day service on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m., and the Belleville Veterans Council will hold its annual Remembrance Day service on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Belleville Cenotaph (10 Cannifton Rd.).