Potential revisions to the Council Code of Conduct Policy were presented to Rocky View County (RVC) council at a Policy and Priorities Committee (PPC) meeting Oct. 4, addressing the issue of respect in the workplace.
“We have (identified) potential actions that could be undertaken, should there be a breach of the code of conduct, and we’ve inserted a new section that deals with harassment and violence in the workplace,” said RVC General Manager Kent Robinson. “We’ve done our best to incorporate the two changes that were recommended.”
Administration prepared the report at council’s direction, following a Notice of Motion raised by Councillor Bruce Kendall at a meeting July 26. According to Kendall’s motion, council’s participation in Respect in the Workplace training in 2016 identified some key elements of “acceptable behavior linked to councillor-to-councillor relationships,” and other areas that could be incorporated into the Council Code of Conduct Policy, which was initially adopted in January 2015.
As council reviews this policy annually at the organizational meeting in October, administration was directed to bring back a report prior to that meeting, outlining suggested revisions to the policy relative to promoting respect in the workplace.
“Should there be a breach and people are informed of it, most people react in a favourable way and say they made a mistake and apologize,” said Reeve Greg Boehlke. “The reality is, it’s up to the individual – their conscience and their credibility.”
Concern was raised by Councillor Jerry Arshinoff and Margaret Bahcheli that if a complaint was brought forward it would be investigated by council to determine if the action was a breach of policy and whether any disciplinary action would be taken.
“I have a fear that a lot of this, based on our in-camera discussions, a lot of this is about letters to the editor, but we’ve had two professional opinions tell us that’s OK,” Councillor Margaret Bahcheli said. “If council is uncomfortable with freedom of the press, then council can quash it just on their own? Does anyone else feel that this is maybe a glaring error?”
According to RVC’s legal counsel Joanne Klauer, this policy strictly covers interactions between councillors. Any complaints from other RVC employees pertaining to councillors would be filed through a separate code of conduct policy for County employees.
Complainants also have the option of going to the RCMP if they are victims of violence or harassment at the workplace, she added – the code of conduct does not supersede the Criminal Code of Canada.
“A lot of times, people prefer to go through their organization or workplace first,” Klauer said. “We have an obligation to have a policy that covers harassment and violence in the workplace, both for employees and councillors.”
