Dispute Process

This information is currently under review

A. Community Portal Advisory Committee (CPAC) 

Where a dispute arises with respect to a matter involving the myhamilton.ca Community Portal, or the agreements between a party and the City of Hamilton (“City”) involving the myhamilton.ca Community Portal, excluding any disputes related to privacy of issues, the myhamilton.ca Community Portal Advisory Committee ("Advisory Committee") shall decide the matter in keeping with its terms of reference and applicable law. 

Where a party has a dispute that it desires to escalate to the Advisory Committee, it shall submit a written notice, containing a description of the matter in reasonable detail, to the Advisory Committee for evaluation. The Advisory Committee shall inform the other party named in the notice of the aggrieved party’s allegations and shall render a decision within 30 calendar days of receipt of the notice. 

Where the Advisory Committee requires guidance or input, it shall request assistance from the Director of Information Technology Services and/or the General Manager of Finance and Corporate Services.

B. Appeal

(i) Subject to section B(ii) below, the parties to the dispute shall be entitled to appeal any decision of the Advisory Committee, within 30 calendar days of the Advisory Committee’s decision, to the City of Hamilton’s City Manager (“City Manager”). The City Manager shall inform the other party named in the appeal notice of the appeal and shall render a written decision on the dispute within 30 calendar days of the City Manager’s receipt of the appeal notice. The decision of the City Manager with respect to that matter shall be final and binding and there shall be no further right of appeal.

(ii) Where the City is a party to a dispute, any appeal of any decision of the Advisory Committee shall be decided by an independent arbitrator, whose decision with respect to the matter shall be final and binding and there shall be no further right of appeal. In such situation the parties to the dispute shall be entitled to appeal any decision of the Advisory Committee by delivering an appeal notice to the other party(ies) to the dispute. The parties to the dispute shall agree upon a single arbitrator to decide the matter. The parties to the arbitration shall each pay its own cost of the arbitration, including all witness and counsel fees, and shall equally share the arbitrator’s fee. The arbitration shall take place in Hamilton, Ontario unless otherwise agreed. The arbitrator shall render a written decision on the dispute within 30 calendar days of the hearing of the matter. The arbitration shall be otherwise in accordance with the Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c.17.

Date modified: November 6, 2015