Political fireworks – again – expected at Whitby committee meeting Monday

More political theatre and maybe even a few fireworks are coming to Whitby’s Committee of the Whole Monday evening, with several motions that that were kicked forward at a stormy meeting March 23 on tonight’s agenda.

One such motion from Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy asks the province to strengthen the accountability framework for municipal elected officials, including enhanced sanctions for serious ethical breaches involving “coercion, intimidation or the misuse of office for political or personal advantage.”

Roy wants a provincial investigative and adjudicative mechanism – independent of local Integrity Commissioners – established to address allegations of conduct that may constitute abuse of power and have the power to impose stronger penalties, including “temporary or permanent disqualification” from holding municipal office.

A related motion from Councillor Rhonda Mulcahey asking the provincial government to amend pending legislation to remove from office any representative found guilty of serious code of conduct violations with a two-thirds majority, rather than a unanimous (except for the offending councillor) vote.

The province has introduced Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, which would allow the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario, upon receipt of a recommendation from a local Integrity Commissioner and a subsequent inquiry, to recommend that a member of council’s seat be declared vacant if the councillor has committed a “serious contravention of the code of conduct that has resulted in harm to the health, safety, or well-being of a person or persons, and that the contravention negatively impacts public confidence in the ability of the member to continue to discharge their duties.”

“Considering the high threshold to arrive at a recommendation to declare a member’s seat vacant,” the motion read, “a unanimous vote from a local council to declare a member’s seat vacant is not in the best interest of preserving public confidence.”

A motion from Ward 2 Councillor Victoria Bozinovski at the March 23 meeting that did get approval before the mandated curfew asks town staff to tighten the criteria and threshold for motions that have “no relevance to municipal government”– at the same time Regional Councillor Chris Leahy tried introducing motions to review the federal temporary workers program, as well as the federal practice of releasing high-risk offenders into the community on unescorted passes.

Those motions missed the curfew cut and will be on Monday night’s agenda.

An earlier attempt by Leahy to exclude companies that employ temporary foreign workers from receiving municipal contracts was declared out of order last month by council, dismissed as an effort to “generate outrage, headlines, and social media engagement” by a council watcher and, most importantly, ruled a violation of the Ontario Human Rights code.

On the same day a Leahy motion calling on the federal government to remove Prince Andrew from the line of succession to the British throne was also ruled out of order.

Leahy’s motion on the temporary foreign workers program on Monday’s agenda asks staff to review the impacts the program has had on the local economy, while his notice of motion on high-risk offenders asks that Ottawa notify municipalities when the offenders are released into the community on unescorted passes.

Another Leahy motion from the March 23 meeting on the agenda Monday asks staff to prepare a comprehensive report on the impacts the ‘Canada–Ontario Partnership to Build’ legislation – which will see development charges reduced by as much as 50 per cent – will have on Town of Whitby finances.

The report will include an analysis of the potential financial impact of reducing development charges on capital budgets, infrastructure funding and long-term financial sustainability, as well as an assessment of how the proposed HST elimination on new home purchases may affect housing demand, affordability, and development activity in Whitby.

The committee meeting begins at 7 p.m. while nominations for this fall’s municipal election open May 1.