Implementation of a decision to hire an integrity commissioner for the township may be delayed until pending provincial legislation on municipal accountability works its way through the system.
Mapleton council adopted a code of conduct on June 25, 2013. Adoption of the code, which went into effect July 1, was a reaction to two harassment complaints heard by council during the latter part of 2012. Council also directed the CAO to proceed with recruiting a municipal integrity commissioner.
At a recent meeting, councillor Neil Driscoll asked if a resolution from the Town of Aurora urging the province to adopt legislation allowing for the public to petition for the ouster of municipal politicians over integrity breaches could impact the need for the appointment of a local commissioner.
At the April 22 meeting, CAO Patty Sinnamon presented a report updating council on related developments.
In addition to the municipal recall legislation sought by Aurora, Sinnamon explained, Bill 124, a private members bill introduced by Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, was given first reading in the legislature last fall. That bill proposes recall of an MPP upon receiving a petition signed by 25 per cent of the total number of voters who voted in the electoral district in the election at which the member was last elected.
“In a nutshell, the proposed legislation is a mechanism to remove provincial elected officials from office,” said Sinnamon.
The private member’s bill is separate from the Liberal government’s Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act, 2014 (Bill 179), introduced on March 24.
Sinnamon pointed out current legislation allows the provincial ombudsman to investigate decisions or actions of municipal councils only if the municipality has not appointed an investigator under subsection 239.2 of the Municipal Act. Under Bill 179, she explained, “complaints may be investigated by the Ontario ombudsman once the complaint has been firstly made to the municipal ombudsman and he or she has refused to investigate the matter, or conducted and concluded an investigation into the matter.
“In other words, even though the municipal ombudsman or meeting investigator has disposed of the matter, it may still be reviewed by the provincial ombudsman.”
Mapleton, like Wellington County and five of six other lower tier municipalities in the county, has appointed Norm Gamble as closed meeting investigator.
If the accountability and transparency legislation is enacted, Sinnamon suggested, council may wish to consider either appointing a municipal ombudsman to review other complaints in addition to complaints made under Section 239 of the Municipal Act at the local level first, or could choose not to appoint their own ombudsman and have all complaints go directly to the provincial ombudsman.
“I also wish to point out that this is separate from an integrity commissioner, who would receive complaints under the township’s code of conduct,” said Sinnamon.
“I have not had an opportunity to recruit an integrity commissioner; given the proposed legislation it makes sense to delay this until the new legislation is passed. There may be an opportunity to share these appointments across the county and I will be exploring this with our neighbouring CAOs as this matter progresses through the provincial legislature.”
Council received the staff report for information.
