A reprimanded London, Ont., city councillor and the deputy mayor have put forward a motion to review the code of conduct and straighten out some unclear rules.
Ward 4. Coun. Susan Stevenson and deputy mayor Shawn Lewis are calling for a review of the code, saying it hasn’t been significantly reviewed or amended since it was adopted in 2019. They have now put forward the motion asking council to review the code periodically and create explicitly outlined points about social media.
“Our own integrity commissioner told us that our code of conduct really needs to be updated, that it’s not easy to work with, that it’s described as clunky. It’s a clunky process,” Lewis says. “The Ombudsman says on their website that if social media is something that councils wish the Integrity Commissioner to apply the code of conduct to that it should be specifically stated.”
Currently, the council’s code does not specify social media. In cases where social media is what sparks a review, the integrity commissioner needed to use their powers of “broad interpretation.”
“I was recommended to be reprimanded by an Integrity Commissioner for not following the code when they didn’t follow the code,” Stevenson says. “And not only did they not follow it, they admitted they didn’t follow it. So we have some work to do.”
Lewis says an environmental scan of other municipalities’ codes will help determine the best practices.
“We’ll look at the Ontario ombudsman’s best practices as listed on their website to see what’s missing from ours,” he says. “It will require the code to come back to council with some recommended changes for us to then debate and adopt or not adopt.”
The recommendations will include social media use. Stevenson has expressed that she does not feel social media has a place in the code of conduct.
The Ontario ombudsman acts as an appeal mechanism in cases where people disagree with a code of conduct finding. Lewis says this is why it is important for the city’s code of conduct is aligned with what the ombudsman would be looking for during an appeal process.
The current code of conduct demands councillors treat other members, city staff and the public “appropriately and without abuse, bullying or intimidation.”
Stevenson was reprimanded five months ago for violating council’s code of conduct by posting photos of apparently homeless people with their faces visible to social media. At the time, Lewis was one of the 9:6 who voted to reprimand her.
“What I’m looking for is to really clarify the rules,” says Lewis. “Whatever council decides is what council is going to decide. But I want to try to get away from this grey area where the integrity commissioner has to apply broad interpretation.”
When issues are sent to the integrity commissioner, it costs the city and taxpayers money for the review. Both Lewis and Stevenson stress the importance of clarifying the code so they are able to see whether the code is broken right off the bat.
“We need to clarify this, so we don’t have people weaponizing the code of conduct for things it wasn’t intended for,” she says. “It’s not what I was elected for and its not what the residents who support want me spending my time on.”
-With files from Global News’ Ben Harrietha.
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