Numerous Ontario municipalities are seeking a new Integrity Commissioner following the unexpected and sudden retirement of Robert Swayze.

During the past week, Swayze’s retirement has been reported on in Ingersoll, Erin, Belleville, and Tillsonburg.

The stories state John Mascarin has assumed Swayze’s contracts.

Swayze was one of Ontario’s first municipal integrity commissioners.

In the days before ICs became mandatory under the Municipal Act, reforming municipal councils often hired Swayze to signal that they were serious about their election promises to restore honesty and integrity.

Swayze took a zero-tolerance approach to ‘chaos prevailing over municipal business.’

This often resulted in councils firing him.

I often cite a 2016 report in the Town of Essex as an encapsulation of Swayne’s no-nonsense approach.

In dealing with a councillor’s conduct violation, Swayne advised the Mayor to “speak to his daughter for the good of the Town and request her not to attend the meetings if she intends to continue goading Councillor Voakes.”

In 2019, Swayze sat down with Adam Donaldson for a full-length podcast.

During the 38-minute interview, Swayze explains his approach and philosophy.

Swayze Created A Standard Most Follow Today

There are no standards or rules governing Ontario’s municipal integrity commissioner.

Municipal councils are free to hire anyone to be an integrity commissioner. Most municipalities hire an independent lawyer, but there are exceptions.

Swayze’s strong, no-nonsense approach made him an outliner in the early days. At times, he seemed to wear being fired as a badge of honour.

[Sudbury’s scandal-plagued Council recently voted 7-6 to terminate its IC, in an act of retaliation by numerous councillors whose wrongdoing was sanctioned.]

Swayze’s work influences the reports written today by David Boghosian, Tony Fleming, John Mascarin, and Guy Giorno.

In law, there is no greater compliment than having your rulings favourably cited by other jurists.

By that measure, Swayze’s legacy is undisputed – he created the standard for municipal integrity.

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Published: February 23, 2025
Last updated: February 23, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman

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  1. My experiences with Mr. Swayze when he was the Integrity Commissioner for Prince Edward County, taught me that he is absolutely “unfit and unqualified to dispense legal wisdom, especially when it involves ethical behaviour. His political biases were revealed to me, when he called my anti-colonial campaign “lunacy”, and he uttered legal falsehoods about Canadian being free, and democratic. I guess he forgot that Canadians are forced to become British Subjects or slaves, when we take “a legal oath of fealty or obedience” to a British monarch. Canadians are neither free nor sovereign in their own country.

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your comment. We have different viewpoints regarding Mr. Swayze.
      Also different perspectives regarding the Crown and Canada’s democratic system.
      While I would like to see a transition from the constitutional monarchy to a republic, our present system of government is both robust and free.
      I found it unnerving to swear my oath of allegiance to the Crown when I joined the Canadian Forces. I do not know the path to follow to achieve the constitutional reforms necessary to change the oath or our government structures.

      Reply