Is the Integrity commissioner costing the city more than most people expected ?

By Pepper Parr

June 26th 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

Council received a periodic report from Principles Integrity.

In the report Janice Atwood said there were 11 occasions when the Integrity Commissioner provided confidential advice to members of council.

She also reported that there were 13 complaints filed with the Integrity Commissioner; two of which resulted in a report going to council

Given that there are only seven members of Council the numbers would appear to be on the high side.

One of the complaints was made by Councillors Nisan and Galbraith against Councillor Stolte which resulted in a five day loss of pay for her.

Another that the public is painfully aware of is the complaint that went to the Integrity Commissioner by a member of Staff who felt she had been singled out by what she saw as remarks that would reflect on her performance as an administrative assistant to a member of Council.  The woman’s name was never made public until she filed the complaint.

The issue began when the Gazette published an interview with Councillor Stolte in which she spoke of the administrative staffer who told her that she was not going to be in that position for very long because she wanted to be working in the Clerk’s Office.

Stolte didn’t name the staffer who apparently felt everyone would know it was her.  The Integrity Commissioner didn’t feel a report to Council was necessary.  Stole, who was apparently taken aback, apologized to the staff member immediately.

Mayor Marianne Med Ward

That apparently was not enough.  The Mayor took the reins on this one and revised a Council meeting agenda that called for Stolte to apologize at the beginning of the Council meeting rather than at the end during the comments section.

During 14 minutes of debate that stunned those who listened to it – the Gazette published that 14 minutes as a separate report.

Stolte refused to go along with the Mayor, who at the time was chairing the meeting remotely, while attending the graduation of her daughter from University of Western Ontario.

Stolte put up a good fight, refused to be bullied by the Mayor and walked out of the Council meeting saying to the City Manager as she did so “told you so”

This is what the city spends your money on?

The Integrity Commissioner is appointed to act in an independent manner on the application of the Code of Good Governance and other rules and procedures governing the ethical behaviour of Members of Council.

The Integrity Commissioner is responsible for providing Integrity Commissioner services on an as required basis; they include, but are not limited to, the following duties and responsibilities:

• act as an advisor to Council
• provide advice on and assist with any drafting related to the code of conduct governing members of Council
• conduct investigations regarding alleged breaches of the code of good governance governing members of Council
• provide information to Council as to obligations under the code of good governance, policies and procedures, rules and legislation governing members on ethical behaviour
• provide advice to individual members regarding specific situations as they relate to the application of the code of good governance, policies and procedures, rules and legislation governing members on ethical behaviour
• provide information to the public regarding the code of good governance and the obligations of members of Council under the code of good governance, policies and procedures, rules and legislation governing their members on ethical behaviour
• provide annual reports to Council summarizing the activities of the Integrity Commissioner

Janice Atwood; partner with Principles Integrity

The Integrity Commissioner is required to preserve secrecy in all matters that come to their knowledge in the course of their duties. At the same time, the municipality is required to ensure that reports received from the Integrity Commissioner are made available to the public.

The annual retainer for the Integrity Commissioner is $1500 with an hourly rate of $275 for advice or investigations. Funds spent to date include:

In 2021 the amount billed to the city was $ 25,205.75
In 2022 the amount billed to the city was $ 13,282.25
For 2023, year to date amounted to $ 6,194.64

That’s a total of $44,000 plus over 2 1/2 years  for Councillors who need to be told how to behave.

Integrity Commissioner services is a budgeted expense through the Office of the City Clerk operating budget.