West Nipissing council has had its inaugural meeting, and now the time has come to get down to the regular business of running the municipality. But before new councillors begin, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, Jay Barbeau, presented the code of conduct for all to hear.
He did so at the request of council, and all gathered were reminded of the big-ticket items, such as demonstrating respectful conduct towards employees and fellow councillors, keeping confidential information arising at meetings confidential, and not accepting gifts or benefits that will impair your judgment as a councillor.
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Barbeau touched on more than the big items, as well. He read most of the document, emphasizing the importance of the code of conduct is to “protect the public interest” and “promote high ethical standards among municipal council members.”
The document, which was adopted by the previous council in 2019, is available on the municipality’s website. Barbeau noted that if members contravene the code of conduct, the municipality’s integrity commissioner may open an investigation into that breach.
He also noted that council members are welcome to reach out to the integrity commissioner if they need clarification about the code, or what might constitute a conflict of interest. Barbeau explained to new councillors that municipal staff are not in a position to offer advice about whether or not a council member is in conflict.
However, he did offer some helpful advice—"when in doubt, you’re better off to declare than to not.” He also suggested that councillors declare anything that might be an ongoing conflict of interest throughout the term. For instance, if a councillor has a family member working for the municipality or is involved with a business that deals with the municipality, that councillor should file that with the clerk. One would “still have to declare at the meeting” that a conflict has arisen but filing these before hand “would leave no room for confusion.”
“It is extremely important that we’re all aware of what the code of conduct means,” Barbeau emphasized, reminding councillors they all must sign to declare they will abide by the words within.
Currently, the municipality is about to issue a request for proposals to attract a new integrity commissioner. The requests will return to council for its consideration, and “once appointed, it is anticipated that the new Integrity Commissioner will want to meet with Council to review the existing Code of Conduct and determine if any amendments or updates are required,” Barbeau noted.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
