Updates to Ontario municipal code of conduct rules further delayed

TORONTO — Municipal councils across Ontario that have been urging the province to let them impose stricter sanctions on unethical councillors will have to wait a while longer.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra had said in the spring that he was working on the issue and would bring the long-promised plan to present at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in August.

But that conference wrapped up Wednesday and legislation is still not ready, as the minister awaits recommendations from the province’s integrity commissioner.

Municipalities for years have been calling for updated codes of conduct to address workplace harassment, as well as stricter penalties for those who violate the rules, up to removing them from office.

Calandra said in the spring that it has proven to be more complex than he thought, so at that time – in explaining he would miss his self-imposed deadline of June for tabling legislation – he said he wanted to consult more and seek advice from Ontario’s integrity commissioner.

Premier Doug Ford wrote to the commissioner in June, asking him for recommendations to improve the standardization of municipal integrity commissioners and standardizing codes of conduct.

“Your expertise regarding accountability and transparency is invaluable in informing possible changes that will help ensure a consistent, uniform standard is applied to the conduct of all local elected officials,” Ford wrote.

Ford spokesperson Grace Lee said a report from the commissioner is now expected some time this fall.

“Given the discrepancies between municipal codes of conduct across the province, the premier wrote to the Integrity Commissioner in June to seek his advice, in consultation with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the office of the Attorney General, and various municipalities, on the best path forward for strengthening codes of conduct for members of municipal councils,” Lee wrote in a statement.

The municipalities’ association submitted recommendations to the province for such legislation in 2021, and Global News has reported that the government had prepared a bill and was close to tabling it under former Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.

Since it has still not materialized, municipalities are becoming vocal about the need for the updated rules.

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe and five other councillors recently called on Ford and Calandra to take immediate action to close a “glaring loophole” in the Municipal Act.

Their statement related to Coun. Lisa Robinson, who appeared on a far-right online show during which the host called Robinson’s fellow council members “pedophiles” and “Nazis” and said they “deserve a baseball bat to the face.”

She has previously been sanctioned with pay suspensions of 30 or 60 days for what the city’s integrity commissioner deemed cyberbullying, intimidation, and homophobic and transphobic remarks.

Coun. Mara Nagy urged Calandra at the conference Tuesday to bring in the legislation. She said in an interview Wednesday that since Robinson’s appearance on the show she has been receiving death threats.

“We can’t delay any longer,” she said.

Robinson has said Pickering council is trying to silence her dissenting voice.

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath said it is “disappointing” there has been another delay and Calandra did not present a plan at the conference.

“It’s technically a workplace for elected officials, so definitely there needs to be something because at this point there really isn’t anything, and what that does is leave people vulnerable,” she said in an interview.

A non-partisan group dubbed Women of Ontario Say No has been advocating for the legislation, saying some municipalities have learned the hard way that there are not enough tools to hold politicians accountable for workplace harassment.

“The premise is simple: You should go to work and you should not be subjected to abuse,” group member Emily McIntosh said at a news conference earlier this year.

“We are asking municipally elected representatives to be held to the very same standard as every other working Ontarian.”

Liberal MPP Stephen Blais introduced a private member’s bill, prompted by complaints against an Ottawa councillor about harassment, that would have allowed councillors and members of local boards to be fired for violating workplace violence or harassment policies and could have prevented them from running for re-election.

The Progressive Conservatives voted down Blais’ bill, as Calandra said the government would table its own legislation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2024.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press