Integrity Commissioner

OPEN AND TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT

The Township of the North Shore is committed to open, transparent government. As part of that commitment and as required under the Municipal Act, Municipal Council has appointed an Integrity Commissioner.

The Integrity Commissioner is required to perform duties in an impartial and independent manner, and reports directly to Council. The Integrity Commissioner is an independent accountability officer given authority under the Municipal Act.

FUNCTIONS

The Integrity Commissioner reports to Council and is responsible for performing in an independent manner, the functions assigned by the Municipality and the following:

Provide education and training to Council and applicable members of local boards, about their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Provide advice and assistance to Council and applicable local boards about how the Code of Conduct, Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and policies and procedures regarding ethical behavior apply to their activities.
Provide advice and recommendations regarding the content of the Code of Conduct and complaint protocol.
Investigate, assess and where applicable, report on complaints of alleged breach of the Code of Conduct and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
Respond to inquiries from the public.
Provide reports to Council regarding the performance of his duties.

In terms of Investigations, Section 223.4 of the Municipal Act, enables an Integrity Commissioner to conduct inquiries of alleged breaches of a municipal/board code of conduct and to report whether a contravention has occurred. Integrity Commissioner has broad powers of investigation including access to records of the Municipality or local board, the right to compel persons to testify under oath, and the right to compel production of information from the Municipality and local boards (with the exclusion of solicitor-client privileged information). After completion of the investigation, the Integrity Commissioner may choose to disclose its report to the Municipality. Upon an Integrity Commissioner’s finding that a member has contravened the Code of Conduct, the municipality may choose to reprimand or suspend the pay of a member for up to 90 days.

REQUEST FOR INQUIRY

Members of the public, Municipal employees and members of Council may request an inquiry and must follow the Protocol to do so. Both a Request for Inquiry of Code of Conduct and an Application for Inquiry of Municipal Conflict of Interest Act must be submitted in writing to the Integrity Commissioner. Please see the Integrity Commissioner Inquiry Protocol for more information.

The Township of the North Shore Integrity Commission is:

Tony Fleming, Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham LLP

(613) 544-0211

CODE OF CONDUCT

The purpose of the Council Code of Conduct is to establish standards of conduct for Members of Council in the individual conduct of their official duties. The Code represents general standards which are designed to supplement the legislative parameters within which members of Council must operate. The Township of the North Shore Code of Conduct may be accessed here.

An Integrity Commissioner has the power to conduct an inquiry in respect of a request made by Council, a member of Council or a member of the public about whether a member of Council or a local board has contravened the applicable Code of Conduct.