By Pepper Parr
April 16th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Updated – A note from Diane Leblovic is set out at the bottom of this article
City Council faces a sticky one on Tuesday.
The City Clerk, Kevin Arjoon has submitted a report prepared by the Integrity Commissioner regarding the behaviour of a member of the Committee of Adjustment
The report is about a complaint made by a property owner who feels she was treated poorly by a member of the Committee of Adjustment.
The Committee of Adjustment hears applications for changes to property and situations where a resident wants to make a minor variances.
Committee members are not elected but are appointed by Council.
Nicholas Leblovic is a member of the CoA
Nicholas Leblovic with his wife Diane on the left; Mayor Marianne Meed Ward with her husband Pete on the right.
He is also a confident of Mayor Meed Ward and has been, along with his wife, a significant contributor to the election campaigns of the following members of city Council:
Mayor Meed Ward $1,200 donated by Diane Leblovic, wife of Nicholas Leblovic
Kelvin Galbraith Councillor for Ward 1 $250 from Nicholas Leblovic
Lisa Kearns Councillor for ward 2 $250 from Nicholas and Diane Leblovic
Rory Nisan Councillor for Ward 3 – $250 from Nicholas Leblovic
Council is being asked to direct staff to make arrangements for the conduct of training to be conducted by the Integrity Commissioner on the ethical framework applicable to local board members.
The recommendation has many informed people close to outraged.
One has asked if the members of Council who received election campaign donations should not be required to recuse themselves from the debate given that there is a potential conflict of interest.
The Integrity Commissioners report refers to the Code of Conduct for Local Boards which was established on February 25, 2019, by City Council. The Code’s main purpose to guide members to act with honesty and integrity, serving in a diligent manner, and performing their duties in a manner which promotes public confidence.
The Integrity Commissioner is appointed by and is accountable to the Burlington City Council. The City of Burlington has an established accountability framework, with the Integrity Commissioner playing an essential role.
Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan:received a $250 election campaign donation from Nicholas Leblovic.
Ward 2 Council member Lisa Kearns received a $250 election campaign donation from Nicholas Leblovic.
The Integrity Commissioner reports to Council on any investigations
City Council decides what it want to do with the recommendations.
Numerous complaints have been taken to the Integrity Commissioner; some dismissed, others with recommendations that were accepted by Council
Ward 1 Councillor Galbraith was the subject of a complaint that he was in a conflict of interest related to his property holdings in ward 1.The complaint was dismissed by the Integrity Commissioner.
Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte was docked five days’ pay for discussing a matter that was part of a CLOSED session of Council.
If the Commissioner conducts an inquiry he is entitled to have free access to all books, accounts, financial records, electronic data processing records, reports, files and all other papers, things or property belonging to or used by the municipality or a local board that the Commissioner believes to be necessary for an inquiry.
Penalties
(5) The municipality may impose either of the following penalties on a member of council or of a local board if the Commissioner reports to the municipality that, in his or her opinion, the member has contravened the code of conduct:
1. A reprimand.
2. Suspension of the remuneration paid to the member in respect of his or her services as a member of council or of the local board, as the case may be, for a period of up to 90 days.
Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith received a $250 election campaign donation from Nicholas Leblovic.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward received a $1200 election campaign donation from Diane Leblovic, wife of Nicholas Leblovic..
Complaints
The established process complaint process (part of the Code of Good Governance) dictates that any complaint is submitted directly to the Integrity Commissioner. The Office of the City Clerk is not involved in complaints, unless directly interviewed by the Integrity Commissioner.
The complaint process itself is nuanced, which allows the Integrity Commissioner many tools at their disposal to resolve complaints. The complaint process also provides options to complainants and the respondent to resolve complaints through alternative ways.
A recommendation report was filed by the Integrity Commissioner with the Clerk on April 6, 2023. As part of their process, the complainant and the respondent were also provided a copy of the report.
The report indicated that a complaint was filed on December 22, 2022, from an applicant to the Committee of Adjustment in regard to the conduct of a member of the Committee of Adjustment (Leblovic) during a hearing in December. The Integrity Commissioner report addresses the investigation conducted and conveys their findings and recommendation.
The City Clerk has worked with the Integrity Commissioner to ensure that the rules of how this item is disposed with is clear. The Integrity Commissioner will be present at the City Council meeting on April 18, 2023, to respond to questions of Council.
• Nicholas Leblovic or a representative may request to delegate at Council regarding the report.
• The Integrity Commissioner will provide opening remarks on their report.
• In accordance with the Procedural By-law Members of Council can ask questions of clarification, two at a time to the Integrity Commissioner.
• Once questions of Council have been exhausted, the Mayor will open the floor for any motions.
• The recommendation as listed in this report could be put on the floor, if Council wishes not to endorse the recommendation the report could be received for information.
Nicholas Leblovic as the Chair of the Waterfront Advisory Committee
• Once a motion is placed on the floor speaking times will coincide with Council rules, this means each member is afforded, two, five-minute speaking times. If a member wishes to speak for a third time this is put to a vote and is only provided to members through the successful passing of two thirds vote of Council.
Options Considered
The rules as outlined in the Code of Good Governance states that:
If upon completion of the investigation the Integrity Commissioner finds that a breach of the Code has occurred, the Commissioner shall report their findings to Council including a recommendation as to the imposition of a penalty as set out in the Municipal Act.
Therefore, a recommendation is made by the Integrity Commissioner and is conveyed to Council, who makes the final decision.
Burlington City Council has seven members. Four received election campaign donations from the Leblovics. Another is reported to be on a leave of absence for two months for personal health reasons.
Should the Council members who received the campaign donations do the right thing and recuse themselves – then there would not be a quorum ?
That should be fun.
We will follow up with a detailed report on just what it is that Nicholas Leblovic did to result in a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner. It is lengthy and detailed and very troubling.
Leblovic is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada but he no longer practices law.
Leblovic was the Chair of the Waterfront Advisory Committee which the city sunset in 2012.My husband Nick Leblovic was required under the Code of Conduct to take a leave of absence from the Committee of Adjustment from May 2 to after election day on October 24. That was because he was going to work on the municipal election in Burlington. Once you are on a leave of absence you can donate to any campaign. This process was confirmed by the Integrity Commissioner.
Note from Diane Leblovic: My husband Nick Leblovic was required under the Code of Conduct to take a leave of absence from the Committee of Adjustment from May 2 to after election day on October 24. That was because he was going to work on the municipal election in Burlington. Once you are on a leave of absence you can donate to any campaign. This process was confirmed by the Integrity Commissioner.
Related news stories:
Marianne Meed Ward, Nicholas Leblovic and the Waterfront Advisory Committee
“Note from Diane Leblovic: My husband Nick Leblovic was required under the Code of Conduct to take a leave of absence from the Committee of Adjustment from May 2 to after election day on October 24. That was because he was going to work on the municipal election in Burlington. Once you are on a leave of absence you can donate to any campaign. This process was confirmed by the Integrity Commissioner.”
Yes – but should those who received the donations (viz. Nisan, Galbraith and Kearns) not recuse themselves from the discussion of the Integrity Commissioner’s findings and, particularly, from determining the level of appropriate discipline to be applied?
Oh that was confirmed by the IC. So in that case his conclusion was valid …
And what a screwed up system that taking a break from the committee to give to mayor and council members your time and money during election campaign period and then coming back to the committee after the election is supposed to make any difference to the potential for at least the appearance of conflicts. What a Pandora’s box this is! Surprising to see who is opening it.
As a retired lawyer you would think the respondent would know better than to introduce prejudicial hearsay information/unsubstantiated allegations at a CA application hearing.
After reading that report, I thought a lot of things. None of them were complimentary to the respondent.
I believe that members of the Committee of Adjustment apply for their positions, are vetted by staff then staff recommendations approved (or varied) by Council. Not exactly the same as being directly appointed by Council but close. The point here is that an unelected body, the CoA, exercises a great deal of influence over the lives of those citizens that come before it and the avenues of appeal and redress are very few. It is an anachronistic organization, the purpose and composition of which, needs serious rethink across the province. I understand that Mr. Leblovic is also on the CoA of Tiny Township and has been for several years. Has his conduct there been as flawed as that demonstrated here?
And where is the transparency of Burlington’s CoA. Go to their page on the City website. Do you find a listing of the members? Do you find easily referenced minutes of their meetings and decisions? Is this what the City Clerk, Kevin Arjoon, believes is acceptable? Time for a change all around I think.
How is it that we are in April and this Council hasn’t seen fit to make announcements about appointments to committee’s and boards. They called for volunteers in December, but since then nothing,
Try to find out who is on the Committee of Adjustment. It doesn’t list ii’s members like the other committee’s do. There are agenda’s of meetings, but no minutes to indicate what took place at most of the meetings. How does this blatantly non-transparent committee even exist?
Report is on page 38. Suggest people read it.
https://events.burlington.ca/meetings/Detail/2023-04-18-0930-Regular-Meeting-of-Council/4b8d158e-5261-4077-93bb-afe301259476
Remember as you read the details that we were told during the Shawna IC meeting that council can choose to increase the penalty and in fact Rory mused about doing just that. Two councillors then said they wouldn’t support any such increase were a motion brought to do so. I can’t see how any of the four who received donations from Nick or his spouse can seriously claim it’s ethical for them to now have the power to decide if his punishment should change or that they should speak to this matter at all at the meeting.
We will be watching with interest.
Will save the thoughts on the very existence of these Committees of Adjustment and the power they wield to a few random citizens and how exactly this type of situation is what is wrong with them, for a future article and after further thought. Members of this powerful committee being able to donate to and work on council and mayoral campaigns is another thing to question.
What happened here should concern every citizen and those who may come to this committee for a variance request in the future.