Integrity issues continue to plague Region
Niagara Region can’t shake its integrity issues.
The simmering controversy over the Region’s code of conduct for councillors came to a boil again Wednesday at the corporate services committee meeting.
And it is all happening before David Mascarin, the municipality’s interim integrity commissioner, reveals the results of his code of conduct investigations.
The Toronto lawyer is looking into more than 20 complaints about the behaviour of regional councillors.
Wednesday, Port Colborne Coun. David Barrick, the corporate services committee chairman, accepted a suggestion from St. Catharines Coun. Andy Petrowski to put Mascarin’s activities “in abeyance.”
That will give staff time to ascertain if the code violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Mascarin declined the opportunity to comment, but Barrick’s decision didn’t sit well with Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn, who is a member of the committee.
Augustyn wanted the committee to at least vote on the direction to staff. Barrick moved forward without one.
Augustyn contends the move Wednesday is an attempt to delay the day of reckoning for Petrowski.
Petrowski has said he is the target of three of the complaints — but maintains they are “politically motivated.”
“This whole thing is a red herring,” Augustyn said. “I was hoping we would get this behind us and talk about the issues that matter in Niagara.
“To use a sports analogy, it is like a hockey game. If there is bad behaviour on the ice, we need the referee to rule. If we need to put someone in the penalty box, they need to go to the penalty box. This is dragging the Region down.”
Petrowski said he can’t support a system that allows anonymous individuals to complain, at no cost to themselves. It is open to abuse and vexatious allegations.
“All councillors are entitled to a fair process,” he said. “Neither the current process or the current code are fair. If they were, why are we overhauling both at a significant cost and why did so many people come out to last week’s public meeting to have their input heard, even though the media virtually ignored that?
“Furthermore, why isn’t the media criticizing the huge cost to regional taxpayers of processing mostly politically motivated complaints — which I have heard is already more than $50,000?”
Brock University professor David Siegel, an expert in local government and public policy and administration, doesn’t give much credence to the Charter of Rights concerns.
“I’ve read a number of them (codes of conduct),” he said. “This one is quite benign. I’m not a legal expert, but it is tough to see what would violate the Constitution.”
The thorny problem for local government is the penalty process, Siegel said. Generally speaking, it is not appropriate for councillors to discipline other councillors.
“That has been the subject of some discussion,” he said. “The province doesn’t want to give elected officials the right to police elected officials. If the residents of St. Catharines elect Andy Petrowski, in their wisdom, that’s their right.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, Sterling Wood, the Region’s legal counsel, told the committee he is not a constitutional expert. He would likely have to bring in outside legal expertise to comply with Barrick’s direction. No one questioned how much it would cost.
Barrick defended the direction to staff as a prudent move that may save taxpayers money in the long run.
“Maybe some people don’t respect our Constitution and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms; I, for one, do,” Barrick said. “It is imperative to get clarity on whether any code of conduct council has, or considers to have, is in alignment with our federal laws and freedoms. Regional bureaucrats have agreed on the importance of getting this clarity as staff direction.”
Barrick took issue with the description of his actions Wednesday as a unilateral decision. He said the committee could challenge his rulings at any point.
“Of course, I would have accepted the results of any challenge,” he said. “However, no committee member brought one forward.
“I respect regional staff as professionals and the diligence they have concurrently agreed to undertake. This will assist in obtaining clarity now on a fundamental issue rather than a potential embarrassing and costly legal challenge later on. Let’s measure twice and cut once to ensure we get it right up front.”
Augustyn said in hindsight he should have challenged the chair’s ruling, but it took him by surprise.
In the end, it doesn’t matter, he added. The decision is no different than any other direction or resolution put forward by a committee. The full council must endorse it.
The next full Thursday council meeting is April 27.
“The code of conduct has been in place for several years,” Augustyn said. “As councillors, we were elected knowing full well what the rules are. Now someone is saying, in the middle of the game, to stay with my sports analogy, we want to revisit the rules and see if they really are the rules.
“That’s not the way to do things. That’s what kids do on the playground. That’s not the kind of behaviour people expect from elected representatives.”