WESTLOCK — Early in the new year, Westlock County councillors will decide whether to approve an updated council code of conduct which more clearly outlines the informal and formal process for handling complaints.
During their Dec. 12 meeting, councillors passed a motion to defer the bylaw containing the updated council code of conduct, to the committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 9, 2024.
The other option recommended by administration was to pass all three readings of the bylaw.
Jared Shaigec, corporate initiatives and intergovernmental advisor for the county, said the Municipal Government Act (MGA) requires the county to establish a code of conduct via a bylaw.
Additionally, if council chooses, a code of conduct may also be established for members of committees created by council that have non-councillor members.
Noting that the MGA requires the code of conduct to be reviewed every four years, Shaigec said administration had recently undertaken a review of the old council code of conduct bylaw.
Most of the changes recommended by administration were organizational in nature, but there were some significant content changes that he outlined at the Dec. 12 meeting.
Arguably the most significant change concerned complaints made against councillors for violating the code of conduct.
Shaigec indicated that Section 9 of the old code discussed how complaints against councillors would be handled.
However, the process for informally and formally dealing with complaints has now been separated out into Sections 10 and 11, and Section 9 strictly deals with instances of harassment, sexual harassment, violence and substance abuse.
Regarding the handling of code of conduct complaints, Shaigec said it is generally encouraged that grievances be handled informally before moving to a formal process.
One other significant change highlighted by Shaigec concerns the role of the chief administrative officer (CAO).
He said that, under the old code, the CAO had a lot of discretion in dealing with complaints.
However, while reviewing this bylaw, administration looked at similar bylaws established by other municipalities as well as a resource published by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) and Alberta Municipalities (AM).
“It explicitly says in that resource that it is not recommended or even appropriate for the CAO to be directly involved in any disciplinary action, or having any authority in determining Investigation processes or even if an investigation is warranted, just because of the relationship between CAO and council,” Shaigec said.
As such, the new code of conduct now states the CAO will only provide advice on matters relating to the informal complaint process and will otherwise have no role in investigating complaints or deciding if action is needed.
Shaigec also noted there was a change in regards to how council shall deal with material gifts given to councillors or board members.
Before, the code of conduct allowed for council to donate such gifts to a non-profit organization not affiliated with any councillor, but the bit about affiliation has been dropped from the new code as it was viewed as unnecessarily restrictive; in a small community, most non-profit organizations have some kind of connection to council.
Other updates to the code of conduct include line items about the use of electronic devices at council and board meetings and the administration of official Westlock County social media accounts.
