Provincial bill to kick out misbehaving councillors a good, but flawed start
Article content
If passed, Bill 9 would give Ontario municipalities a standard code of conduct with the power to remove council members from office for serious violations. To remove a member, a recommendation from a municipal integrity commissioner, approval from an Ontario integrity commissioner and a unanimous vote by the rest of council would be necessary.
Article content
Article content
Article content
This bill comes three years after former Ottawa Coun. Rick Chiarelli refused to resign and was docked a maximum penalty of 450 days of pay for various code of conduct violations. The city's integrity commissioner issued three reports between 2020 and 2022 that condemned Chiarelli's behaviour toward women who were on his staff or had applied to work for him.
Article content
Article content
The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy met at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 17 for public consultations on the bill.
Article content
Stephanie Dobbs, a former employee of Chiarelli and complainant against him, told the committee that she never saw justice or accountability.
Article content
After telling the committee to not take her criticism of Bill 9 as a lack of gratitude, Dobbs called it 'ludicrous' to let the decision to remove a member from office rest in the hands of other council members.
Article content
Article content
'As the legislation currently stands, I'm doubtful of the ability to enact change,' Dobbs said.
Article content
She added that putting the decision in council's hands turns the situation into a 'political spectacle,' which she later told the Citizen is her biggest concern about the proposed law.
Article content
Article content
Throughout the public consultation, speakers like Coun. Lisa Deacon from the Township of Russell, Robin Jones with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and University of Ottawa emeritus professor Barry Wellar all called for the voting requirement to be changed to a two-thirds supermajority.
Article content
Many speakers, including Dobbs, think the decision to remove a council member should be a matter decided by the courts.
Article content
'My concern is (the committee) dismissing the many voices that have been really pushing today,' Dobbs told the Citizen. 'If they choose not to go with amendments and to make this improvement, they'll be met with a lot of criticism and a lot of unhappy constituents.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
6 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Provincial bill to kick out misbehaving councillors a good, but flawed start
Experts, Ontario city councillors and a former employee of disgraced ex-councillor Rick Chiarelli told Members of Provincial Parliament on Thursday that Bill 9 is 'long overdue,' but still has its flaws. Article content If passed, Bill 9 would give Ontario municipalities a standard code of conduct with the power to remove council members from office for serious violations. To remove a member, a recommendation from a municipal integrity commissioner, approval from an Ontario integrity commissioner and a unanimous vote by the rest of council would be necessary. Article content Article content Article content This bill comes three years after former Ottawa Coun. Rick Chiarelli refused to resign and was docked a maximum penalty of 450 days of pay for various code of conduct violations. The city's integrity commissioner issued three reports between 2020 and 2022 that condemned Chiarelli's behaviour toward women who were on his staff or had applied to work for him. Article content Article content The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy met at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 17 for public consultations on the bill. Article content Stephanie Dobbs, a former employee of Chiarelli and complainant against him, told the committee that she never saw justice or accountability. Article content After telling the committee to not take her criticism of Bill 9 as a lack of gratitude, Dobbs called it 'ludicrous' to let the decision to remove a member from office rest in the hands of other council members. Article content Article content 'As the legislation currently stands, I'm doubtful of the ability to enact change,' Dobbs said. Article content She added that putting the decision in council's hands turns the situation into a 'political spectacle,' which she later told the Citizen is her biggest concern about the proposed law. Article content Article content Throughout the public consultation, speakers like Coun. Lisa Deacon from the Township of Russell, Robin Jones with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and University of Ottawa emeritus professor Barry Wellar all called for the voting requirement to be changed to a two-thirds supermajority. Article content Many speakers, including Dobbs, think the decision to remove a council member should be a matter decided by the courts. Article content 'My concern is (the committee) dismissing the many voices that have been really pushing today,' Dobbs told the Citizen. 'If they choose not to go with amendments and to make this improvement, they'll be met with a lot of criticism and a lot of unhappy constituents.'
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
Hearings are being held in Ottawa on a provincial bill to oust city councillors who commit serious misconduct
The hearings hold particular significance in this city as the proposed legislation was partly inspired by complaints of sexual harassment against former councillor Rick Chiarelli.
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
Bill 9 'nearly impossible' to implement, Rick Chiarelli's accuser tells committee
Social Sharing A provincial bill drafted in response to a sexual harassment scandal in Ottawa would not have protected the victims involved, one of former city councillor Rick Chiarelli's accusers has told a committee. The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy held consultations over Bill 9 on Thursday in Ottawa, where a series of investigations in 2020 found that Chiarelli sexually harassed multiple female staffers over several years. Stephanie Dobbs, who made public sexual harassment complaints against Chiarelli, told the committee that the bill in its current form would not have protected her. "I am doubtful of its ability to provide meaningful change," she said. 'Another broken process cloaked in good intentions' Bill 9 aims to standardize codes of conduct across Ontario municipalities, giving them the power to remove and disqualify from office members who are found to be in serious violation. Under the proposed rules, removal could only occur following a recommendation from a municipal integrity commissioner, an approval from an Ontario integrity commissioner, and a unanimous vote by the rest of council. Requiring a unanimous vote would be too onerous, Dobbs said. "My former employer had a fascination with obtaining leverage over his fellow council colleagues," she said. "At a threshold of 100 per cent, all it would have taken is one compromised colleague out of 23 to not vote by stepping away, and he would have walked away with zero consequences. "Having the final decision return to be voted on at a council is frankly ludicrous." Nancy Cairns, who also worked for Chiarelli, agreed, arguing that the bill "risks becoming another broken process cloaked in good intentions." The proposed process for removing councillors would be "nearly impossible to use," she said. "The very council members who work alongside the person accused of misconduct, who may be political allies or fear retaliation, must all vote to remove them," she told the committee. Instead of a unanimous vote, she proposed a "non-political legal path to removal." "Many of these cases end up at judicial review anyway," Cairns said. "What's written in this bill is redundant, exhausting, and tells survivors the road ahead just isn't worth it." 'A procedural shield' Joanne Chianello, a former journalist who broke stories of Chiarelli's misconduct for CBC, argued that "council is not the right body to make this kind of decision." She continued: "What's proposed here isn't a path to justice, it's a procedural shield, one that risks protecting even the worst offenders so long as they have a single ally on council." Other speakers including Lisa Deacon, a member of Leadership féminin Prescott-Russell, proposed that a two-thirds majority of council ought to be sufficient for dismissal. Robin Jones, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, submitted that her organization would prefer that the power of removal rests with an independent judge. 'Preserving democratic accountability' As sponsor of the bill, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack previously defended the requirement for a unanimous vote. "The process outlined balances the need for external influence while preserving democratic accountability at the local level," he said on July 3, noting that only members of council not subject to complaint, not on approved absences and not in conflict of interest would be permitted to vote. Not all of the speakers supported the aim of the bill. "We have elections to decide who represents us and it's been like that for a very long time, said Ryan Linkletter, who opposed the bill's mechanism to remove officials. "If a politician is unpopular and the constituents think they are not serving them, they won't be elected back in." Chiarelli, who was never criminally charged, denied accusations against him. His pay was docked for 540 days, the maximum penalty, following three damning integrity commissioner reports against him.
