A new bill is aiming to give greater powers to integrity commissioners to respond to complaints of harassing behaviour by municipal politicians, and a Simcoe County advocacy group hopes local councils – including Collingwood – will throw their support behind the bill.
Greer Campbell, a representative of The Women of Simcoe Say No, came before Collingwood’s strategic initiatives standing committee on Monday to ask council to write a letter to the provincial government in support of Bill 5, the Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act.
“This will help keep workplaces safe. It’s accountability,” Campbell told councillors.
Under the Municipal Act currently, the harshest penalty that can be recommended by an integrity commissioner for any offence is a 90-day suspension. There is no process for removing councillors from office.
“It’s a gap in legislation,” said Campbell.
Under Bill 5, the Municipal Act would be amended to permit municipalities to direct integrity commissioners to apply to the court to remove an elected official from their seat if they commit "egregious acts of sexual, emotional and psychological misconduct.”
In March, the bill was put forward by Orleans MPP Stephen Blais.
Despite the bill being on the table in the last provincial session, it was dropped when the Ontario election was called this year. Re-introduced in August, the act has not been passed.
The group’s goal is to have letters from municipalities sent to the province prior to the Oct. 24 municipal election.
“We’re seeing many examples of harassment in local municipalities and councils that are facing these challenges today,” said Campbell, noting the advocacy group was formed following a 2020 Barrie council incident and investigation into workplace harassment involving a Barrie councillor and a city employee.
City of Barrie officials declined to release any further details. However in January 2022, a civil lawsuit was launched against Barrie Coun. Mike McCann by Amanda Kelly, a senior business innovation and entrepreneurship officer with the city, alleging sexual assault and harassment. McCann has denied the allegations in the $200,000 lawsuit, which is still making its way through the courts.
At Monday’s meeting, Coun. Chris Carrier noted he was in support of Bill 5.
“As a politician of 13 years, I have witnessed, at the table, behaviour that is unbecoming,” he said. “We really had no tools to hold each other accountable.”
“When we see bullying, either by an audience or at the table, we should be holding each other to account,” said Carrier. “I am 100 per cent fully supportive of moving this forward.”
Coun. Yvonne Hamlin said she was also in support. She asked Campbell how many councils the group had approached and the response the group had been getting so far.
“Generally speaking, most of the councils have been open to having us,” said Campbell. “A lot of councils have been coming at us more from a defensive perspective, which really surprised us.”
Campbell said the topic seems sensitive, and there had been some councils who refused to allow the group to depute.
“Luckily we haven’t had the problem here, although I’ve heard about it in other municipalities where councillors are repeatedly violent or harassing of other members of council or staff,” said Hamlin. “I think it’s time we have something in place so there is a real penalty.”
Coun. Deb Doherty said she has an Association of Municipalities of Ontario board meeting later this week and asked to take a conversation offline with Campbell so she could bring the group’s concerns to that meeting.
At the end of the discussion, Carrier put forward a notice of motion for Collingwood council to endorse Bill 5 and send a letter to local MPPs, Premier Doug Ford, the municipal affairs and housing minister, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Blais.
“We can’t begin to heal as a community unless we face the ugly truth. The ugly truth is, there is a history of this type of behaviour at the local level of government that is completely unacceptable,” said Carrier.
The motion will be considered at the Oct. 17 regular council meeting.
UPDATE: The motion was considered and passed unanimously with no discussion at the Oct. 17 regular meeting of council.
With files from Shawn Gibson.
