How Ontario suddenly scrapped a plan to deal with harassment on city councils

In the fall of 2021, the world of Ontario municipal politics was abuzz with excitement, expecting the provincial government to finally unveil a law that would tackle the growing issue of harassment on local councils.

“I had heard it was days away from being tabled,” John Mascarin, a partner with Aird and Berlis and a municipal law specialist, told Global News.

“We had been advised that the ministry was working at this and that they were going to bring something forward in November of 2021 … it was just days away from an announcement, not even weeks.”

But, as the hype built and municipal experts looked forward to a regime that would bring serious “teeth” to local accountability, the provincial promise faded.

The law was never officially scrapped, instead failing to materialize and eventually disappearing into the vacuum of another election, the housing crisis and the Greenbelt scandal.

A trove of new documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws illustrates just how close Ontario came to tabling a municipal harassment law.

The law, the documents say, was “proposed for October or November 2021” with plans to work on regulations in the springtime, noting “any regulations would come into force to align with the start of the 2022-2026 council term.”

Internal briefings show it would have allowed judges to disqualify councillors from office for years in certain situations and charge elected officials who were found to have broken the rules the cost of integrity commissioner investigations.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office told Global News Ford had written to the province’s integrity commissioner in June of 2024, asking for his advice on how to proceed on municipal conduct.

The integrity commissioner, Ford’s office said, will now work on a report to be presented this fall on the issue, signalling the start of a new approach to the contentious issue.

The documents obtained by Global News show the Ford government was considering a bill that would have amended both the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act to bring harsh consequences for elected officials found guilty of certain offences by an integrity commissioner.

A summary of the planned legislation said municipalities would be allowed to “recover the financial costs of code of conduct inquiries” from members found to have violated the rules, while a judge could disqualify someone for up to seven years “for certain serious violations of the code of conduct.”

The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act already allows judges to disqualify someone if they are found guilty of certain financial misdemeanours.

“It doesn’t happen very often but in certain circumstances, members do get removed and they’re disqualified from running again for office,” Mascarin said of the conflict of interest rules.

“Why penalize someone to that extent just for financial manners, when someone’s harassment and intimidation and bullying has gone on for many, many years … why would you say that’s not worthy of the same punishment? I think it (was) trying to level the playing field by using something that’s already in the ethical toolbox — but only for financial contraventions.”

The planned legislation also proposed to offer more clarity around the powers integrity commissioners have to recommend punishments or dismiss frivolous complaints. Regulations to create consistent timelines and approaches to integrity investigations were also set to be introduced.

The proposed law planned to “expand mandatory code of conduct” issues municipalities had to include in their rules and improve the training received by councillors when they are elected.

The government spent months drafting and planning the legislation that was eventually shelved, the documents show.

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Work began with recommendations made by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in February 2021, which was followed by a formal government consultation between April and July of the same year.

The document said that consultations included 18 round-tables and an online survey that received 2,650 responses.

The government was told “penalties are not strong enough” for municipal officials found guilty of breaking the rules. The government also heard small cities can’t retain integrity commissioners and those that are retained can be inconsistent. Some towns have insufficient codes of conduct and fail to train their councillors properly.

Brian Rosborough, the executive director of AMO, said the organization had even been involved in “thoughtful consideration” of the issue in 2021 and remained worried no law had yet materialized.

“It’s a very big concern for our members,” he told Global News. “Across Ontario, we continue to hear of examples that need stronger regulation and legislation in order for councils to deal with bad behaviour when it arises.”

Rosborough said he was “certain” the question of municipal conduct would be raised during the upcoming AMO annual conference in Ottawa.

The documents show the Ontario NDP and Liberal critics were briefed on the plans in September 2021. Briefings were also prepared for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the City of Toronto and the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks, and Treasurers of Ontario.

They were all told the legislation was “proposed for November 2021.”

“Key stakeholders are likely to be supportive of the recommended approach,” the technical briefing explains, adding: “The public would likely be supportive of making local integrity processes more transparent and providing more mechanisms to hold members of council and of certain local boards accountable.”

Of the 221 pages of records disclosed to Global News, more than 100 were redacted citing cabinet confidentiality, suggesting the matter was also presented to Premier Ford and his ministers.

Ontario Liberal MPP Stephen Blais, who has long championed anti-harassment legislation at Queen’s Park, said he would have supported fast passage of a bill on the terms laid out in the document and would have voted in favour of it.

“The idea at the time was that the minister was going to introduce the bill and the hope was it would be passed before rising for Christmas,” he said.

“Before Christmas, I was told by the Minister of Municipal Affairs it was being delayed by the house leader. The house leader privately talked about some of the constitutional issues but I took him at his word they were working on it and trying to find a resolution.”

While the proposed legislation was shelved, municipalities across Ontario continued to experience issues with alleged harassment, misbehaviour and integrity commissioner consequences many say fall short.

In Pickering, Mayor Kevin Ashe recently wrote to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra asking for stricter rules to be urgently introduced as his council continues to manage a fractious relationship with one councillor who has twice been docked pay after advice from the integrity commissioner.

“We have had incidents over the first two years of this term where one particular councillor has had numerous contraventions of the code of conduct,” he told Global News.

“There has to be strength in sanctions, there’s got to be greater accountability and I think the government should consider a mechanism for the removal of a member of council, not by their colleagues but through either the minister doing it or having a judicial process.”

The Pickering councillor involved in that particular dispute has filed a judicial review contesting the wage suspensions.

Mascarin, a municipal lawyer, said he felt that having a municipal conduct law in place in Ontario in recent years could have made a difference across the province, potentially discouraging similar issues.

“I think it would have given at least some stronger tools for municipalities to use,” he said, talking about the proposed law generally and not events in Pickering.

“Perhaps there might have been a little more sensitivity on the part of some council members, perhaps indicating ‘I better bite my tongue because I might find myself booted out of office.’”

MPP Blais said he also hoped the existence of a law would have acted as a deterrent and highlighted he has pushed for a spectrum of consequences.

“I would be cautious of removing someone from office for speech,” he said. “The intent of why I brought this forward was really for that kind of sexual harassment, and violence and abuse that has — throughout history but also obviously very recently — come to the forefront as being pervasive in our society.”

After the law failed to materialize in late 2021, the government accepted an opposition bill from MPP Blais with similar provisions, before allowing it to die when the 2022 election was held in June.

Then-housing minister Steve Clark quickly became involved in plans to remove land from Ontario’s Greenbelt that dominated the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing until Clark resigned a year later, in September 2023.

His successor, Calandra, has repeatedly said he views a municipal conduct law as a priority but said it is complicated, hinting he doesn’t agree with the bill that appeared signed and sealed under Clark.

“Even the regime surrounding the integrity acts throughout municipalities across the province of Ontario, each of them operates in a different fashion,” Calandra said when asked about the issue in April.

“There is a lot more work to do on this because the more I look into it, the more disjointed and fragmented the process is and I want to make sure that whatever we do, it is effective, it meets the goals that we’re trying to accomplish.”

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles told Global News she was keen to see the government bring forward a proposed law as soon as possible.

“The important thing is that we get it done — and right now there is nothing,” she said. “There is nothing to protect women to ensure there’s consequences or a process in place to protect women who have the courage to come forward.”

As early as March this year, Premier Ford appeared to dismiss the option of provincial action to change the municipal conduct regime.

“Every city has their integrity commissioner, right? They have the power to do what they need to do if someone misbehaves if you want to call it that. They have their integrity commissioner and council and mayor, they can make their decisions,” Ford said during a March 28 press conference.

“Ultimately, do you know who can remove someone? The people. That’s why we have elections every four years.”

A few months after those comments — and years after the last proposed municipal conduct law appeared to die — Ford seemed to change direction.

On June 10, days after a cabinet reshuffle that followed the legislature rising, the premier wrote to Ontario’s integrity commissioner, J. David Wake, asking for his advice on how to handle the complex issue of municipal conduct.

“Your expertise regarding accountability and transparency is invaluable in informing possible changes that will help ensure a consistent, uniform standard is applied to the conduct of all local elected officials,” Ford wrote in the letter, shared with Global News by the premier’s office.

The premier referenced a recent conversation between Wake and Minister Calandra.

He asked for Wake’s advice on the municipal integrity commissioner framework across the province, “including a possible role for your office” and how to standardize codes of conduct.

Ford’s office said advice was also being sought from the Attorney General, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and several municipal governments.

“Commissioner Wake has indicated that he will provide a report this fall, and we look forward to receiving those recommendations that will help ensure that a consistent, uniform standard is applied to the conduct of all local elected officials,” the premier’s office said.