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Council and Administration

Administrative Information

On January 1, 2019, a new legislative amendment to the Police Services Act, 1990 came into force which mandated that every municipality prepare and adopt a community safety and well-being plan (CSWBP) by January 1, 2021. 

Council agreed to participate in a joint community safety & well-being plan lead by Grey County and Bruce County. This involved cross-sector collaboration with 70 community partners in Bruce and Grey from municipalities, police services, police services boards, education, health, community and social services.

On December 8, 2020 Council passed By-law No. 2020 – 96 to adopt the Community Safety and Well-Being Planning: The Municipalities of Bruce and Grey Plan.

The goal of this plan is to “achieve sustainable communities where everyone is safe, has a sense of belonging and opportunities to participate and where individuals and families can meet their needs for education, health care, food, housing, income and social and cultural expression which will ultimately lead to a reduction in crime across the region” 

Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWBP)

The Municipality of South Bruce is committed to ensuring that personal information is collected and handled responsibly and in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56. This page summarizes the privacy policy and practices of the Corporation of the Municipality of South Bruce website.

Why is Personal Information Collected?

There are a number of reasons a municipality may collect personal information including:

  • To process requests for services or information (e.g. planning applications, permits and licences);
  • To establish, administer and maintain billing, payment (e.g. taxes) and other service information;
  • To communicate with you about services, information requests or applications;
  • To communicate any changes or disruptions in services.

Access and Privacy

The Municipality of South Bruce acknowledges and appreciates that the communication of personal information is extremely sensitive and it recognizes the need to protect the personal privacy of individuals who interact with the Municipality through various means of communication.

The Municipality attempts to ensure compliance with all applicable legislation and the collection, retention, disclosure and destruction of personal information is conducted in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The minimum amount of personal information is collected and used only for the purpose in which it is collected.

The municipality does not sell or rent such personal information. Occasionally, the Municipality may be required to disclose the information with outside parties (e.g. law enforcement activities, emergency situations).

Correspondence to Council

Individuals who submit letters and other information to Council should be aware that any personal information contained within their communications may become part of the public record and may be made available through the Council Agenda process.

Network Traffic Monitor

The Municipality of South Bruce may provide aggregate statistics about traffic patterns, and related site information to relevant committees and organizations. These statistics will include no personally identifying information.

"Cookie" technology captures summary - not individual - information on visitor use patterns. This computer code tracks "traffic" to determine how effective a given page is in meeting information or service needs. Apart from providing a performance measure for the Municipality's Internet site, the data is otherwise meaningless.

A Cookie contains no information that personally identifies visitors to the community's Web site and is strictly geared to providing internal performance data. The Municipality of South Bruce knows nothing of an Internet visitors browsing path once he or she has left www.southbruce.ca. The only personal identifying information arising from the use of the Municipality of South Bruce web site is what you supply to us on a voluntary basis. For example, this could be in connection with the following; submitting comments, suggestions or questions through a feedback form or an e-mail.

Copyright

The information herein is the property of the Municipality of South Bruce and is protected by copyright. No part of the information herein may be sold, copied, distributed or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the Municipality of South Bruce.

Questions or comments regarding this policy may be directed to the Municipal Clerk by email or by calling 519-392-6623 or writing to PO Box 540 21 Gordon Street E Teeswater, ON N0G 2S0.

Social Media Disclaimer

The Municipality of South Bruce social media sites (including, but not limited to Twitter/Facebook/Instagram) are open and public forums. All users of the Site(s) must comply with the Terms of Use of the social media platform used. The Municipality does not own, operate or control the platforms and the Municipality’s Privacy Policy does not apply.

The Municipality makes reasonable efforts to monitor and/or moderate content posted on its social media platforms; however, the Municipality does not moderate all comments and cannot always respond in a timely manner to the content of all comments and/or online requests for information. Information requests made through social media platforms is not considered official, and the public is directed to email or call the Municipal Office

The Municipality of South Bruce and its employees and Council are not liable for any errors or omissions on this Site. Any information or views provided on the Sites are, to the best of the Municipality’s knowledge, current as of the date posted and are subject to change without notice. Where statements are based on information provided by third parties, they are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Any graphs, charts, or graphics are used for illustrative purposes only.

Comments made by members of the public are not official communications of the Municipality of South Bruce and are owned by the contributing commenter. These comments do not necessarily reflect the Municipality’s views, opinions, and/or policies. The Municipality of South Bruce reserves the right to edit, modify, and/or remove comments deemed inappropriate. Additional information is available in the Social Media Commenting Guidelines section.

All Municipal social media sites are monitored during regular business hours, between 8:30am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday. The Corporate website at southbruce.ca should be used as the official resource for municipal information.

Questions or concerns about posting to social media should be directed to the Municipality at clerk@southbruce.ca

Social Media Commenting Guidelines

The Municipality invites community members to post, share, discuss and debate while treating each other with respect. The Municipality will not tolerate posts or comments that include:

  • Profane or inappropriate language;
  • Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
  • Content considered to be defamatory, disrespectful or insulting to municipal staff, representatives, other commenters or community members;
  • Off topic remarks and comments;
  • Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
  • Comments/posts not related to a posted article/topic/information;
  • Business solicitation;
  • Partisan messaging;
  • Sexual content or links to sexual content;
  • Information about any identifiable individual (including photographs of, or information about that individual, as well as views or opinions about that individual), unless the identifiable individual provided specific, written consent to the Municipality in advance; or,
  • Other material deemed inappropriate

If you and your neighbour are having a dispute about who should complete the work to build or fix a fence between your properties or the type of fence to be built or repaired and you cannot find a solution. Contact us and our fence viewers can help enforce the Line Fences Act and resolve your line fence dispute.

Line Fences Act

The Line Fences Act sets out a process which the Municipality must follow and applies to the following two situations when you and your neighbour can’t make an agreement about your line fence. These two situations are when:

  • No line fence currently exists, and one owner wants it to be constructed
  • A line fence already exists, and one owner wants it to be reconstructed or repaired

Line Fences Act

When the Line Fences Act does not apply

The Line Fences Act does not apply:

  • Over the location of the property boundaries
  • Where construction or repair of the fence has already begun or is complete
  • Where the adjoining property is a municipal or provincial highway
  • View the Guide to Line Fences Act for further details.

A Guide To The Line Fences Act

Fees

If you or your neighbour call the municipality about a fence line dispute, there is an administration fee you will be required to pay under the Consolidated Fee By-law in Appendix A, page 2. Further costs and awards are determined by the fence viewers.

Consolidated Fee By Law

What are line fences?

Line fences are fences that mark the boundary between two properties. They are often referred to as boundary or division fences.

At the Municipality of South Bruce, we are committed to removing barriers to ensure that our programs and services are accessible to everyone. We follow the requirements and guidelines outlined in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

Accessible Feedback Form

Let us know how we are doing and complete our feedback survey. Please include suggestions for how we can improve our service delivery.

Accessible Customer Service Feedback Form

Accessible formats and communications support

The Municipality of South Bruce aims to provide information in accessible formats whenever possible.

Please complete our Accessible Information and Communication Request if you would like to request a copy of a document in an alternate format. We are happy to work with you to meet your accessibility needs.

Accessible Information and Communication Request

Third Party content on our website and social media may not conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards.

If you need an alternative accessible format of the content found on either this website or on our social media channels, please complete our  Accessible Information and Communication Request or contact us by e-mail or at 519-392-6623.

Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan identifies barriers to accessibility that exist in our community and then outlines a plan to address each barrier. Each year, we review and update the plan to include the progress we’ve made.

Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

Accessibility policies

Our staff use the following accessibility policies to provide customer services and accessibility standards in our daily work:

Accessibility Standards PolicyCustomer Service Policy

The Municipality of South Bruce offers Commissioner of Oaths services for a variety of documents, including:

  • Affidavits
  • Oaths
  • Statutory declarations
  • Pension documents

We do not provide Notary Public services.

Book an appointment

Please contact us before you visit to confirm that we can commission the document. We offer these services Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Municipal Office located at 21 Gordon St. E. in Teeswater. 

Please make sure to have one original piece of photo identification with you at your appointment. This could be a:

  • Driver’s licence
  • Passport

All documents that you would like commissioned, must be signed in the presence of the Commissioner of Oaths. Do not sign any documentation in advance of the appointment.

Fee

It costs $10 plus HST to have a document commissioned.

What is an oath?

An oath is a solemn declaration of your words and signifies that you are bound to perform an act faithfully and truthfully. The oath is used to encourage the truth.

What is an affidavit?

An affidavit is a document containing statements that are verified by the swearing of an oath or by an affirmation. They are generally used to establish legal rights and may be required to attest to a certain fact or set of facts.

When do I need a Notary Public?

Documents involving matters out of province, real estate, wills or foreign jurisdictions, require the service of a Notary Public or solicitor. We do not provide Notary Public services.

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