Council names advisers to ethics, integrity posts
A former MP who made his name standing for transparency was appointed Edmonton city council’s first ethics adviser Wednesday.
Brent Rathgeber made national news when he resigned from former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative caucus in 2013.
That was after caucus withdrew support for Rathgeber’s transparency bill.
The former St. Albert representative is now using that parliamentary experience and his legal background to help local officials.
He and Edmonton’s new integrity commissioner, lawyer Jamie Pytel, were appointed to the roles Wednesday morning. The vote by city council was unanimous.
Pytel has a background in workplace investigations and helping large organizations ensure the right governance mechanisms are in place. She’ll be responsible for taking complaints about the conduct of Edmonton’s elected officials, investigating them and making recommendations to council. Council will vote on what to do, and what to make public.
Pytel wants to make sure people can have confidence in the investigation.
“You want to give everybody a fair go of it and make sure complaints aren’t ignored, that they ’re dealt with in a timely and thoughtful way and with a view to due process and fairness for everybody,” she said. “That’s how I’ve spent my career for the last 10 years.”
The stakes get raised when it’s politics, she said. “Always ... the impact, when it is politics, is huge. We need to make sure the process is fair for all involved.”
Rathgeber will be on retainer to provide private advice to council members when asked.
He’ll also write advisory briefs of a more general nature when he feels all of council can benefit. Those briefs will be made public.
The budget for the office hosting both of them is $180,000 a year.
They ’ll be paid a retainer plus an hourly wage for advice and investigations. The integrity commissioner can be reached by email at integrity.commissioner@edmonton.ca. Complaints must be submitted within 60 days of a complainant becoming aware of them, if possible, and there is a blackout period around civic elections.
The news already had one Edmonton resident on Twitter saying they’d like the integrity commissioner to review council decisions on development in Old Strathcona. But that’s not what this is for.
“This is not a sober second thought ... It’s a review of conduct,” said Coun. Tim Cartmell.
Council earlier this year also passed a new code of conduct for council members. Pytel’s role gives teeth to that. The city auditor still investigates allegations of misconduct among city administration.
Rathgeber’s decade of experience in politics and legal background will make his advice valuable for many on council, said Mayor Don Iveson. “I admired Rathgeber in his public service with his commitment to his own ethics. He was outspoken many times, holding himself to the highest standard.”
Rathgeber’s transparency bill would have allowed journalists and members of the public to file freedom of information requests on the expenses of the highest civil servants in Ottawa.
When he resigned, it was also because he had grown frustrated by being micromanaged by staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, those he said interfered with his role as the representative of his constituents.
Calgary’s city council appointed its first integrity commissioner in 2016. That’s who its council turned to when Mayor Naheed Nenshi described the CEO of Uber as a “dick” while being live-streamed in a Lyft vehicle.