Clearview council endorses Bill 5
Clearview council has unanimously endorsed Bill 5, the “Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act” in response to a request from Emily McIntosh.
McIntosh said she is representing a collective advocacy effort on behalf of community groups, agencies and individuals under the collective The Women of Simcoe Say No, a grassroots movement to advocate that municipal workers be protected from abuse and harassment, just as in any other work environment. They are appearing before all municipalities in Simcoe County, asking for support for Bill 5 after being denied a chance to make a deputation to county council.
Orléans MPP Stephen Blais tabled the legislation last year, to deter municipal councillors and board members from engaging in harassment by holding them accountable for their actions, including creating a process to remove them from office.
Bill 5 would ensure consistent safety standards by mirroring legislation introduced in 2018 mandating all workplaces in Ontario have a Workplace Violence and Harassment policy to protect all workers: as of today, this does not apply to municipally elected officials who are able to retain office and even seek subsequent re-election despite substantiated claims of harassment. The current maximum consequence is a three-month suspension without pay.
Bill 5 would permit municipalities to direct the integrity commissioner to apply to the court to vacate a member’s seat for failing to comply with the municipality’s policies.
“After that, they are free to return to the workplace, which is mind boggling,” said McIntosh. “Victims must make the decision whether or not they can afford to leave the workplace – a workplace that cannot keep them safe – or if they must stay and facetheir abuser every day until the end of the council term. We need this Bill passed and we actually need it passed yesterday.”
She said there is still due process but substantiated claims of harassment, perpetrators would lose their jobs.
Councillor Thom Paterson tabled a motion to endorse the legislation and circulate letters of support to elected officials at the county and provincial levels.
“I agree with Emily that we’re at the beginning of determining how Bill 5 would come to fruition but I certainly understand and support the reason why we should support this motion,” he said. “I think it’s kind of sad that we have to do this, honestly,” said Connie Leishman, who seconded the motion. “I think all councillors should be above and beyond this kind of behaviour but we’re human and I know things go awry so I would definitely support the councillor’s motion, and the Bill.”
Mayor Doug Measures asked McIntosh if she has ever been an elected official.
She said she has not.
“Believe me, you are under the microscope all the time in this job. Everyone who is an elected official is. They’re doing their best to serve their community,” said Measures… “It’s a burden of proof in a really difficult situation regarding elected officials and how they behave and how they can be removed through the current laws so I’d be very interested to see what type of success the MPP would have on this.”
McIntosh said she recognizes the level of scrutiny faced by elected officials.
“I want to be really clear, there is still due process here with investigation and things have to be substantiated. Of course, not everything would constitute a removal,” she said. “We can’t be scared about how we are conducting ourselves we’re just talking about a consistent level of how we want to treat other people and knowing there is a recourse, sends a very strong message. The same one that every work place in Ontario has at this time, which is that violence and harassment will not be tolerated in the workplace.”
