Citizen-driven advocacy builds consensus among municipalities that harassment from councillors will no longer be tolerated
A total of 60 municipalities (and growing daily) have formally endorsed legislation on the table to hold municipally elected officials accountable to the same standards as every other workplace in the province.
Bill 5, the Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act, is legislation that will: 1) strengthen codes of conduct to hold elected representatives accountable to violence and harassment in the workplace policies of the municipality; 2) provide a due diligence process of removal for substantiated egregious acts of harassment; and 3) restrict subsequent re-election.
“For most people, if you harass someone in the most unconscionable ways, you are terminated. But for us elected officials the maximum penalty is 90 days without pay. That needs to change” said County of Simcoe Deputy Warden and Springwater Township Mayor Jennifer Coughlin.
The motion of support was endorsed by regional council members at the County of Simcoe April 25, brought forth by Coughlin. Simcoe County is the second upper tier municipality to endorse the legislation, following Niagara Region last week, that will promote an appropriate accountability structure for municipally elected officials.
The advocacy is growing rapidly with the recognition that elected representatives are not above the people, they are ‘of’ the people, and therefore should not be held to a lower standard with respect to how we treat each other. In fact, it received unanimous support from the Ontario Big City Mayors last week, with multiple motions slated to hit the agendas of the largest municipalities in the province in the weeks ahead.
The movement was borne out of a situation in Barrie, where a sitting councillor was running for mayor while going through civil litigation for sexual harassment. The Bill however stems from the heavily reported conduct of former Ottawa councillor, Rick Chiarelli, whose multiple substantiated claims only resulted in four consecutive suspensions of pay, as removal was not an option.
This pattern of egregious acts of harassment from sitting councillors is not isolated to any one community or councillor. “It is bigger, broader and more insidious” states Emily McIntosh, lead advocate. “This is about the rights of every Ontarian, but it is gendered. Human rights are non-negotiable. People are stepping up on councils, in communities and within government to say, ‘This ends here and it ends now’.”
The group is currently conducting meetings with Members of Provincial Parliament to ensure all members of government understand the urgency of the issue. “This can no longer wait,” said McIntosh. “The health of communities, the rights of Ontarians, and the safety of municipal workers is at risk today.”
– Submitted by The Women of Ontario Say No
