The Ontario Conservative government has re-introduced legislation to strengthen municipal elected officials codes of conduct, allow the provincial Integrity Commissioner to recommend municipal politicians be removed from office, permit law enforcement to arrest people for public drug use, and fulfill the City of Hamilton’s request for an independent Board of Health.
Bill 6
Bill 6, the Safer Municipalities Act, will grant police more powers to remove encampments, deal with repeated trespass, and arrest individuals consuming illegal drugs in public places.
Bill 9
Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, will enable local integrity commissioners to ask the provincial Integrity Commissioner to investigate the more egregious misconduct accusations. The provincial IC can recommend removal from office if the circumstances are justified, and the local municipal council will then be required to vote on the recommendation to remove from office. A unanimous vote will be required for removal.
Bill 9 also grants the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing powers to create regulations regarding codes of conduct, including rules and qualifications for local integrity commissioners.
Wild West of Integrity Work
There are presently no rules governing ICs and no consistency. On one end of the spectrum, there is “Principles Integrity,” which offers what it describes as a differing approach that is very lenient toward now-retired Robert Swayze, who took a zero-tolerance approach to misconduct.
It is lucrative work.
Recently reported annual billing rates include $59,000 in Grimsby, $77,000 in Niagara Falls, $40,000 in North Shore, $39,698.44 in Chatham-Kent, and $94,000 in Kingston.
One IC recently charged $27,000 for a three-page-long report.
ICs have dozens of municipalities on their rosters, and can easily obtain seven-figure revenues with a few associate lawyers working on investigations.
Bill 11
Bill 11, the More Convenient Care Act, will amend the City of Hamilton Act to establish an independent Board of Health. The Public Health Sub-Committee will become the Board of Health.
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v. 1.0.0
Published: May 6, 2025
Last updated: May 6, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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