LAC LA BICHE - In an effort to improve how complaints about councillors are reported and investigated, Lac la Biche County councillors have approved administrative revisions to reconfigure their Code of Conduct Bylaw on Oct.4. The biggest change will see an impartial third-party integrity commissioner to thoroughly review all complaints filed.
The revision, which was originally discussed in closed session during a council meeting on Sept. 6, is a move to introduce an impartial review of council’s ethical role when handling complaints about its members, said Coun. Lorin Tkachuk.
“I think this is a positive change because it’s going to take council out of the equation. It’s not our job to determine or investigate these things. In my opinion, if there should be a complaint filed from anybody in the public or what have you, it's not for us to decide whether it’s warranted,” he explained.
The bylaw outlines the ethical standards expected of municipal officials while detailing how violations are handled. Previously, the bylaw stated complaints, whether from members of the public or internally, would flow through council members and then be debated and voted on. However, the new changes will now see an appointed integrity commissioner conduct a thorough investigation of complaints filed, said Melanie McConnell, the County’s associate CAO of the municipality’s Corporate Services division.
“The changes... in this bylaw basically says anybody can file a complaint, and that complaint goes straight to the third party investigator, and the third party investigator will decide whether there is merit to investigate the complaint and whether it would proceed,” explained McConnell.
Selecting a candidate
At their Oct. 4 meeting, council approved not only the changes to the bylaw, but agreed to move forward with searching for a candidate or firm to fulfill the duties involved in the position.
Councillors will still have a role to play in the process, say municipal officials, but only to vote on the final outcome of the investigation. The integrity commissioner will relay the findings to council for the decision.
“Obviously at the end of the day when all the information is presented if there is a sanction delivered to myself or whoever, that decision has to come from council, but at least you’d be given impartial information from a third party,” said Tkachuk.
The initial discussions on the new role will see it as a one-year term with a $50,000 salary. On Oct. 11, County council selected Jamie Pytel as an interim integrity commissioner after a discussion arising from closed session. More details on the role are expected in the coming weeks.
