Pickering Council at heart of issue as minister delays provincial code of conduct review

“No one should have to put up with workplace harassment,” declares a Pickering Councillor as long-awaited sharper legislative teeth to deal with rogue or abusive councillors will have to wait a bit longer after the provincial Municipal Affairs minister said promised beefed up Code of Conduct rules are still not ready.

Paul Callandra made the announcement at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference this week, saying he needed more time to consult and seek advice from the province’s Integrity Commissioner.

Municipalities for years have been calling for updated codes of conduct to address workplace harassment, as well as stricter penalties for those who violate those rules, up to removing them from office.

The issue is especially prominent in Pickering, where controversial Councillor Lisa Robinson has been suspended twice for 30- and 60-day periods for comments deemed racist and homophobic by the city’s own integrity commissioner. Robinson also recently appeared on an alt-right podcast where the host called her colleagues “pedophiles” and “nazis” and recommended a “baseball bat to the face” as punishment.

Mayor Kevin Ashe and five other councillors called on Ford and Calandra to take immediate action to close a “glaring loophole” in the Municipal Act and allow tougher penalties than just a pay cut.

Pickering Councillor Maurice Brenner

Regional Councillor Maurice Brenner said councillors should be free from harassment, just like any other workplace environment in Ontario.

“This is not just my workplace, it’s also the workplace of several hundred staff  with the City of Pickering,” he said. “No one should have to put up with workplace harassment. The Province should pass this legislation for all workplaces throughout Ontario.”

Pickering Councillor Mara Nagy was at the AMO conference and TVO host Steve Paikin reported she received the “biggest applause” for urging the government to bring in a code of conduct to protect local politicians and staff from abuse. She and her colleagues, Paikin noted, have received death threats from the alt right, but so far, nothing from Queen’s Park.

Premier Doug Ford wrote to the commissioner in June, asking him for recommendations to improve the standardizing of municipal codes of conduct.

“Your expertise regarding accountability and transparency is invaluable in informing possible changes that will help ensure a consistent, uniform standard is applied to the conduct of all local elected officials,” Ford wrote.

That report is expected this fall.

AMO submitted recommendations to the province for such legislation in late 2021 and the Bill came close to being tabled before an election and the subsequent fallout from the Greenbelt scandal put the legislative changes on hold.

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath told Canadian Press it is “disappointing” there has been another delay and Calandra did not present a plan at the conference.

“It’s technically a workplace for elected officials, so definitely there needs to be something because at this point there really isn’t anything, and what that does is leave people vulnerable.”

The Liberals introduced a private member’s bill (prompted by complaints against an Ottawa councillor) that would have allowed councillors and members of local boards to be fired for violating workplace violence or harassment policies, and could have prevented them from running for re-election.

The government voted down the bill, with Calandra saying his government would table its own legislation.

With files from Canadian Press

Pickering Councillor Mara Nagy (centre) at the AMO conference