Sudbury Council Votes to Limit Anonymous Complaints
Shore Report special edition
“Unsubstantiated” Complaints to City’s Integrity Commissioner Cited
Image © John Degen, Shore Report 2024
A motion carried by Greater Sudbury City Council at its October 8 meeting will amend the city’s Code of Conduct and Complaint Protocol. Brought by Councillors Mike Parent, Natalie Labbée, Pauline Fortin, and Mark Signoretti, the motion aims to limit the ability of City Code of Conduct complainants to be shielded by anonymity.
Councillor Mike Parent introduces the motion. Image Courtesy GreaterSudbury.ca
In our September 2024 issue, we reported Sudbury Integrity Commissioner recommendations following complaints against two of the Motion’s moving Councillors, Labbée and Parent. Neither Councillor received a financial penalty resulting from the complaints.
“Speaking with our Integrity Commissioner,” said Parent, “he mentioned that we receive more vexatious, frivolous complaints than any other municipality he works with. Anyone can put in a complaint, and you don’t even have to prove you’re a real person.”
Councillor Labbée noted how vulnerable the current system is to abuse. “One person could change their email and have fifteen different emails,” she said, “and it seems like fifteen different people at fifteen different times. How is the Integrity Commissioner supposed to know that it’s an actual legitimate complaint?”
Councillor Natalie Labbée speaks to perceived flaws in the current system. Image Courtesy GreaterSudbury.ca
According to Labbée, the complaints process can be costly, though City Solicitor and Clerk, Eric Labelle noted billing rarely reaches the full $90,000 budgeted for the IC process. Billing to June 30th was $37,000.
Coverage of this motion by local journalist Tyler Clarke in Sudbury.com suggested altering the complaints process for complete removal of anonymity might not be possible under the current Municipal Act. The Accountability and Transparency section of the Act governs the powers of Ontario’s Integrity Commissioners, and grants broad discretion to ICs concerning confidentiality.
Sudbury’s Integrity Commissioner, David Boghosian, indicated to Sudbury.com that anonymity of complaints is not always necessary. At the October 8 meeting, Councillor Parent said that through his own discussion with Boghosian he understood anonymity is meant to be the exception for complainants rather than the rule.
Two Councillors, René Lapierre and Deb McIntosh, expressed discomfort with the idea that complainants might face public exposure, thus chilling the complaints process for legitimate whistleblowers. City Solicitor and Clerk, Eric Labelle, addressed those worries, noting the proposed changes would comply with the Municipal Act, and the Integrity Commissioner maintains the power to provide anonymity to a complainant should the situation warrant. No Councillor indicated any disagreement in principle with the Code of Conduct.
The motion was carried unanimously during a roll call vote. Shore Report will follow up on the amended Code of Conduct.
Image courtesy fonom.org
In a related report through Village Media, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), an umbrella group for 110 northern cities, towns and municipalities has called on the province to produce a “universal code of conduct” for elected municipal council members to bring a level of standardization to the process of investigation and response by integrity commissioners. At the moment, it seems Ontario’s municipal codes of conduct are a patchwork of local statutes that can have wide variances. A universal code would benefit North Shore communities who share IC services but not necessarily codes of conduct.