Deputy Mayor Shaw noted that in March of 2021, Orleans Member of Provincial Parliament Stephen Blais put forward a Bill: "The Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act”. The bill was brought forward to introduce legislation that would deter municipal councillors and board members from engaging in harassment by holding them to account for their actions, including creating a process to remove them from office. The bill “requires that codes of conduct for municipal councillors and members of local boards include requirements for those councillors and members to comply with workplace violence and harassment policies, and creates an integrity commissioner and judicial process to remove them from office for egregious acts of sexual, emotional and psychological misconduct”
The bill was reintroduced in October of last year as Bill 10. In his address to the House, Mr. Blais conveyed the urgency to prioritize and pass this legislation before the most recent provincial election to ensure it was in full effect prior to the upcoming municipal elections.
The legislation died on the floor when the provincial election was called, and has since been reintroduced as Bill 5 in August. It is non-partisan and had all–party support.
In every other workplace in Ontario, employees are held to violence and harassment in the workplace policies. Currently, there is no legislation that provides an appropriate mechanism for accountability for municipally elected representatives when it comes to perpetrating harassment. In any other job, if egregious acts of harassment is substantiated, the person is FIRED. In the present, not only can an elected representative perpetrate harassment, no matter how egregious, they can retain their position and seek re-election.
The Bill is simple. It has two primary components:
- Hold municipally elected officials to violence and harassment policies of the municipality they serve
- Create a process by which the integrity commissioner can apply to the courts to vacate a position for substantiated acts of egregious harassment.
All claims need to be substantiated, like in any other workplace HR department, and only in those instances where harassment was deemed egregious would an application to the courts be made for removal.
If removed, the person would not be eligible to pursue subsequent re-election or be appointed to the Council or Local Board. This is the SAME consequence applied to candidates who fail to file a financial statement for their election campaign. It is hard to stand here and try to rationalize how a lack of financial disclosure warrants penalty, while councilors guilty of egregious harassment can pursue re-election carte blanche. Something is wrong with this picture.
This is about our workplace safety. As elected leaders of our community, we are responsible for ensuring basic human rights are respected and protected. This Bill is the foundation.
There are so many good people that serve the people as elected representatives. However, like every sector, there are people who are guilty of perpetrating harassment in the workplace. One does not have to look far to find examples, such as Barrie, Ottawa, Mississauga and Brampton that were cited by MPP Blais as to WHY this legislation is so necessary. In fact, the number of examples have only increased since the Bill was last on the floor.
Over 30 municipalities have now endorsed this bill, including Kincardine, Barrie, Springwater, Wasaga Beach, Ottawa, Woodstock, Tiny, Orillia, Penatanguishine, Clearview, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Adjala-Tosorontio, New Tecumseth, and Collingwood.
Subsequent to further discussion, Council passed the following resolution: