City council has amended its Code of Conduct to loosen the deadline for filing complaints.
Complaints must now be submitted no more than six months after the alleged violation occurred, and no action will be taken on a complaint received beyond this deadline.
Complaints previously had to be submitted within six weeks of the matter becoming known to the individual, and no more than six months after the alleged violation occurred, by a member of the public, an organization, a city employee or a member of council or city committee having reasonable grounds to believe the Code had been breached.
“It’s a problem we are aware of and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed sooner than later and the integrity commissioner (Suzanne Craig) is very much supportive,” said Coun. Gary Harvey, whose direct motion was passed by city council Monday night. “The amendment will remove the six-week window and make it six months for complaints to be received.”
The Code of Conduct is an agreed-upon understanding by all members of Barrie city council about what standards they should meet in the individual conduct of their official duties. It also applies to the behaviour of members of city committees and boards.
This change in filing complaints came into effect Nov. 9, 2020.
“Six months is a far more reasonable timeframe for complaints to be received and is in line with higher governing bodies at the provincial level,” Harvey said. “It was a section in the Code that has been identified as too short of a window for reporting, even though this is typical (for) restrictions on reporting time frames by many municipalities across Ontario.”
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward questioned the change, but did not vote against it.
“I know we’ve had this Code of Conduct for 10 years and I’m not familiar with any, a single case of where somebody didn’t file a complaint within six weeks of the problem,” he said. “Doesn’t mean we can’t amend it.”
Only Coun. Clare Riepma voted against the change.
“We have already asked our staff and the integrity commissioner to work on our Code of Conduct, and I’m not so sure that we should be doing some piecemeal bits and pieces here by motions in council,” he said. “My concern is that we always run the risk of unintended consequences.
“We’ve already asked some learned people to do some work on it and I’m happy to wait until they come back to us.”
On Oct. 27, council approved a motion that the city clerk, in consultation with the integrity commissioner and legal counsel, review the Code of Conduct and report back regarding amendments that may be required to provide clarification of roles and responsibilities of the integrity commissioner associated with complaints concerning members of council and committees related to workplace violence or harassment.
Harvey said the Code change is not connected to a workplace harassment investigation that council has been dealing with during the past several weeks.
“There is no direct link with this investigation, however this section was recently identified as too short of a reporting window,” he said.
City council hired a Toronto law firm in late October to provide advice to Barrie councillors on alternative actions and related risks regarding a confidential staff report on a workplace harassment investigation.
Council hired Aird Berlis at a special meeting. Aird Berlis, or Aird & Berlis LLP, has expertise in workplace law, including harassment. Its legal advice would only be circulated to members of council not directly associated with the matter.
CUPE Local 2380 president Michael Murphy has said several workplace harassment allegations were made during the past year and some were substantiated. This union has about 500 full-time members working for the city.
A confidential staff report concerning personal information, and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege matters concerning a workplace harassment investigation, was received by council last month.
Council still has to hire an outside expert in human resources and municipal law to review staff’s handling of the complaint outlined in the confidential staff report, and report back to Barrie councillors on possible changes to policy and procedures on how complaints are dealt with in the future.
