Integrity commissioner unable to rule

CAYUGA — Haldimand County council, staff and a complainant were left unhappy after an integrity commissioner ruled it was not his jurisdiction to handle a complaint against a councillor.

In early March it was announced that a formal complaint has been made against Coun. Fred Morison, alleging the councillor had failed to declare a pecuniary interest for a number of projects under the code of conduct. In response, Haldimand County hired integrity commissioner John Mascarin to investigate the allegations.

As well, an informal complaint was made against Morison in February of 2018.

At the April 24 council-incommittee meeting, the integrity commissioner’s report came back.

The seven-page report said that the integrity commissioner declined to investigate the matter and “ought to have been pursued under other legislation, named the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.”

“The question of whether or not a member has contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act may only be tried and determined by a judge upon an application commenced by an elector,” said the report.

Coun. Leroy Bartlett expressed frustration with the process, specifically in how the integrity commissioner was hired and the costs associated with the process.

“Where I have the issue is, we went and hired this person. At the end of the day, they just say ‘it’s not mine, it’s got to go someplace else,’ ” Bartlett said.

“The taxpayers of Haldimand County have to pay for an exercise in futility.”

It is expected that staff will return to council with proposed changes to the code of conduct.