Surrey council in favour of setting up ethics office

Surrey council has voted unanimously to move ahead with the creation of an ethics office.

Coun. Jack Hundial first tabled the motion in February.

“It’s gonna be a first for the province, and certainly, there’s a lot of work ahead in the coming year for us to make sure we frame it up correctly,” Hundial said.

He hopes an ethics commissioner will be in place by next year.

Hundial says this will bring a higher level of accountability and transparency to the city government.

He also hopes to see an enhanced lobbyist registry and whistleblower policy for the protection of city staff.

Mayor Doug McCallum says establishing an ethics office was also one of the pillars of his Safe Surrey Coalition.