Latest news with #Bill9
Ottawa Citizen
2 days ago
- Politics
- 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
3 days ago
- Politics
- 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.
Ottawa Citizen
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Chianello: How to fire bad councillors — Ontario isn't getting it right
When I first reported on allegations against then-Ottawa city councillor Rick Chiarelli in 2019, the reaction from readers was swift and visceral. Article content Yes, people were appalled by the stories: disturbing accounts from women who said they were told by Chiarelli not to wear bras to public events, were given flimsy clothing to wear, and taken to bars to 'recruit' men as volunteers. But what stunned people even more was the realization that nothing could be done to remove Chiarelli from office. Not by the province. Not by the public. Not even after multiple damning reports from both the city's former and current integrity commissioners. Article content Article content Article content And that disbelief never really went away. Article content Over the past five years, I've heard from dozens of people — victims, staffers, elected officials, voters — all asking the same question: how is it possible that an elected official can be found to have harassed or harmed others in the workplace, and still keep their job? Article content Now, the province has finally responded — in theory. Article content This spring, Ontario's Progressive Conservative government introduced Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, 2025, which passed second reading last month. On paper, it's the government's answer to calls from multiple quarters for a legal mechanism to remove municipal councillors from office for egregious misconduct. Article content Bill 9 does offer a few welcome changes. It mandates training for councillors on their codes of conduct. It gives the province authority to impose those codes if municipalities fall short. And it adds oversight to ensure municipal integrity commissioners don't have conflicts of interest — a needed step, especially after revelations by CBC Ottawa that some commissioners were also serving as their municipality's lawyer, a conflict the Ontario ombudsman rightly flagged as problematic. Article content Article content But on the core issue — the ability to remove a council member who has seriously violated the code of conduct — Bill 9 falls short. In fact, it sets up a process so convoluted and politicized that it's hard to imagine it ever being used successfully. Article content Article content Here's how it would work. Article content If a local integrity commissioner finds that a councillor's misconduct caused harm to someone's health, safety or well-being — and potentially if the behaviour was repeated — they can recommend removal from office. That recommendation then goes to Ontario's Integrity Commissioner, who launches a second full inquiry. Article content If the provincial commissioner agrees the councillor should be removed, they make a recommendation. But that recommendation doesn't trigger removal. Article content Instead, it's sent back to the councillor's own colleagues — their fellow council members — who must vote unanimously to remove them from office within 30 days. And every single councillor must be present for the vote to count. If someone is sick, on vacation, or slinks off to the washroom, the vote fails. And if council doesn't hold a vote within that 30-day deadline, Bill 9 is silent on what happens next.
CBC
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Critics warn Ontario bill to crack down on misbehaving politicians 'fatally flawed'
The Ford government is taking its proposed bill to crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians on the road this summer with plans to have it in place before 2026 civic elections. But critics say the new rules are "fatally flawed" and will be ineffective. Committee hearings on Bill 9, dubbed the Municipal Accountability Act, began last week in London and Niagara Falls to gather feedback on the Progressive Conservative plan. It would see the process to handle misconduct standardized across all 444 municipalities in the province and give councils the ability to remove one of their peers from office. Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack told the committee that the government is open to feedback, but aims to pass the bill in the fall. That would mean it would come into force ahead of 2026 municipal elections, he said. "We all know and understand what's at stake with this legislation," Flack told the all-party committee last week. "We know that accountability is not optional, it's essential." WATCH | Ford government reviewing municipal code of conduct amid Pickering council dispute: Ford government reviewing municipal code of conduct amid Pickering council dispute 11 months ago Duration 3:18 The mayor of Pickering and city council members are asking the province to legislate stricter sanctions for councillors after their colleague appeared on a podcast where the host labelled them pedophiles, Nazis and fascists. As CBC's Chris Glover explains, the Doug Ford government confirmed a review of the Municipal Act is now underway. PCs re-introduced bill to address misconduct in May The government re-introduced the legislation in May after it died on the order paper when the snap election was called earlier this year. This is the third attempt by the PCs to introduce legislation aimed at addressing serious misconduct by municipal councillors. They're responding to years of requests from municipal politicians and staff who have asked for tools to deal with allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and ethics abuses. Flack said the current process is not uniform and gives councillors the ability only to suspend pay, even in the most serious of instances. It undermines the public's view of fairness and accountability on municipal councils, he said. "This current system, simply put, does not work as intended and has produced challenges right across Ontario," he said. The new bill would require a local integrity commissioner to investigate misconduct allegations. If that person believed a breach of the code of conduct warranted a politician's removal, the case would be passed on to Ontario's Integrity Commissioner for review. If that watchdog also recommends removal, the case would be passed back to the local council for a decision within 30 days. A councillor could only be removed by a unanimous vote of all the council members who are not the subject of the complaint. Bar is too high for removal of a misbehaving councillor, critics say Municipal lawyer John Mascarin said leaving the final decision in the hands of politicians will ensure the law is never used. Leaving the final call to the courts would de-politicize the process and ensure fairness, he said. "I think the bill is incredibly flawed, fatally flawed," said Mascarin, who is a partner at the firm Aird and Berlis. "Are you going to tell me that on a large council of 16, 20, 25 members ... you're not going to find one member that's going to betray their good conscience and their fiduciary obligations?" Liberal municipal affairs critic Stephen Blais has introduced three private members bills trying to give municipal integrity commissioners enhanced powers. Those bills would have allowed the watchdogs to refer the most egregious code of conduct violations to court. A judge would then determine if a politician should be removed from office and barred from running in subsequent elections. Each time, the bills have stalled in Queen's Park's legislative process or been rejected by Premier Doug Ford's government. Blais said he thinks the standard in this bill for removing a councillor is too high. "I think the government has overshot the mark. I think it's not just high, I think it's kind of in outer space," he said. NDP municipal affairs critic Jeff Burch, who is also a former city councillor, said the government has acquiesced to years of demands for this legislation, but it's made it ineffective. "This bar is far too high," he said. "Why should politicians, who should be held to a higher standard, have such a lower standard and be able to keep their jobs in situations that make other people feel unsafe?" Municipalities want more tools for 'progressive discipline', AMO says The president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario says that group is happy government is moving ahead with the legislation. But Robin Jones, who is also the mayor Westport, Ont., says amendments would make it more effective. AMO previously advocated for cases involving potential ejection from council to head to the courts. Lowering the bar from all of council to a two-thirds majority vote for removal would address some concerns, she said. "We think a super-majority should be enough," she said. "We understand that it may need to be more than a simple majority." Jones said councils also want more middle-ground built into the legislation to give them options for other sanctions. Pay suspension isn't much of a motivator on many smaller councils where salaries are small for what's considered part-time work. The new bill would add removal from council as the next, and only other, penalty available to councils. "We really do think that there should be sort of a progressive discipline opportunity," she said. At the hearings, Flack defended the government's position on the full majority of a council being required to remove a peer. The PCs want to avoid the process being "weaponized," he said. "By the time you get to a vote there should be little doubt that removal or disqualification, if it's being recommended, be done," he said. A spokesperson for Flack said in a statement that a high bar is required for any vote to remove a sitting politician. "Removal from office is a serious measure, reserved for the most extreme code of conduct violations, and safeguarded by a high threshold and thorough review to ensure it is never taken lightly," Alexandra Sanita said.
Cision Canada
27-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
High Tide to Open Two New Canna Cabana Locations in Toronto and Winnipeg
CALGARY, AB, June 27, 2025 /CNW/ - High Tide Inc. ("High Tide" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: HITI) (TSXV: HITI) (FSE: 2LYA), the high-impact, retail-forward enterprise built to deliver real-world value across every component of cannabis, announced today that its Canna Cabana retail cannabis store located at 1439 Henderson Highway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will begin selling recreational cannabis products and consumption accessories for adult use on June 27, 2025, and that its Canna Cabana retail cannabis store located in The Well shopping mall, at 486 Front St. West in Toronto, Ontario, will begin selling recreational cannabis products and consumption accessories for adult use on July 1, 2025. These openings bring High Tide's total store count to 202 Canna Cabana locations across Canada, 83 in the province of Ontario and 12 in the province of Manitoba. WINNIPEG, MB LOCATION Conveniently located just off Chief Peguis Trail—a major traffic artery in Winnipeg—this grocery-anchored plaza offers excellent visibility and easy accessibility. The area benefits from strong co-tenancies and serves a local population of approximately 10,000 within a 1-kilometer radius, with limited competition nearby. As the first Canna Cabana in Winnipeg's north end, this location opens access to a new and untapped customer base, supporting the Company's continued expansion in the city. TORONTO, ON LOCATION The Well is a newly opened, state-of-the-art mixed-use shopping mall, located in the heart of downtown Toronto. This vibrant destination seamlessly blends high-end residential, entertainment, and commercial spaces, and is home to a diverse range of retailers, acclaimed restaurants, and a modern reimagining of the traditional food court—Wellington Market—featuring dozens of top-tier food vendors. The Company's new Canna Cabana location is ideally situated adjacent to the entrance of Wellington Market, which sees thousands of visitors daily, and is just steps from the outdoor plaza which serves as a hub for year-round events that draw significant foot traffic. "Both the Manitoba and Ontario markets continue to deliver strong results for our Canna Cabana network, and we're thrilled to deepen our footprint in these high-potential provinces," said Raj Grover, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of High Tide. "In March, our stores across both provinces delivered annualized revenue run rates significantly above the national average, underscoring the strength of our differentiated discount club model and loyalty ecosystem. These results reaffirm our decision to reinvest our cash flows into targeted expansion, bringing even more Canadians into the Cabana Club." "I also want to thank the Government of Manitoba for passing Bill 9, which will help level the playing field by limiting controlled access licenses to communities with fewer than 5,000 residents. This important shift ensures age-gated cannabis retail remains in the hands of responsible operators, protects youth, and supports the long-term viability of licensed cannabis stores across the province," added Mr. Grover. High Tide, Inc. is the leading community-grown, retail-forward cannabis enterprise engineered to unleash the full value of the world's most powerful plant and is the second-largest cannabis retailer globally by store count 1. High Tide (HITI) is uniquely-built around the cannabis consumer, with wholly-diversified and fully-integrated operations across all components of cannabis, including: Bricks & Mortar Retail: Canna Cabana™ is the largest cannabis retail chain in Canada, with 202 current locations spanning British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and growing. In 2021, Canna Cabana became the first cannabis discount club retailer in the world. Retail Innovation: Fastendr™ is a unique and fully automated technology that employs retail kiosks to facilitate a better buying experience through browsing, ordering and pickup. Consumption Accessories: High Tide operates a suite of leading accessory e-commerce platforms across the world, including and Brands: High Tide's industry-leading and consumer-facing brand roster includes Queen of Bud™, Cabana Cannabis Co™, Daily High Club™, Vodka Glass™, Puff Puff Pass™, Dopezilla™, Atomik™, Hue™, Evolution™ and more. CBD: High Tide continues to cultivate the possibilities of consumer CBD through and Wholesale Distribution: High Tide keeps that cannabis category stocked with wholesale solutions via Valiant™. Licensing: High Tide continues to push cannabis culture forward through fresh partnerships and license agreements under the Famous Brandz™ name. High Tide consistently moves ahead of the currents, having been named one of Canada's Top Growing Companies by the Globe and Mail's Report on Business in 2024 for the fourth consecutive year and was recognized as a top 50 company by the TSX Venture Exchange in 2022, 2024 and 2025. High Tide was also ranked number one in the retail category on the Financial Times list of Americas' Fastest Growing Companies for 2023. To discover the full impact of High Tide, visit For investment performance, don't miss the High Tide profile pages on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CONTACT INFORMATION Media Inquiries Carter Brownlee Communications and Public Affairs Advisor High Tide Inc. [email protected] 403-770-3080 Investor Inquiries Vahan Ajamian Capital Markets Advisor High Tide Inc. [email protected] CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. The forward-looking statements herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing of our new locations beginning to sell recreational cannabis products and consumption accessories for adult use, the expected benefits of the store locations, the level of competition in the area, and our commitment to opening the number of future stores on the timeline indicated herein. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, such statements are based on expectations, factors, and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control, including but not limited to the risk factors discussed under the heading "Non-Exhaustive List of Risk Factors" in Schedule A to our current annual information form, and elsewhere in this press release, as such factors may be further updated from time to time in our periodic filings, available at and which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results, or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.
