The province launched a review of municipal codes of conduct to find ways to strengthen accountability but it has done nothing since.
In her first act as a newly appointed councillor, Raika Sheppard asked her council for more compassion.
And it appears to be getting worse: “The environments within the municipal sector and the relationship of staff with council and the public have gotten strained over the COVID period,” said David Arbuckle, executive director for the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, which represents 2,000 municipal workers. “Staff are concerned with especially harassment from council and the public.
The province did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment about whether it would be restarting the code of conduct review or bringing in changes. “It’s outrageous what some of these councillors think they can get away with,” said John Mascarin, a municipal and land use planning lawyer who has served as integrity commissioner in municipalities across the province. “But the penalties are so low … that they do.”
The integrity commissioner’s report is not a finding of criminal wrongdoing or guilt, and the complainant’s allegations, which include sexual assault, have not been tested in court. Other Brampton councillors have faced numerous ethics investigations, and numerous city staff have been dismissed, including the city solicitor and the integrity commissioner — who has filed a judicial review of the decision to fire her.
“Our client fully intends to continue fighting the outcome of the integrity commissioner’s investigation, his report and the vote of city council regarding the recommended penalty,” Di Biase, told the Star.
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