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Integrity Commissioner Annual Report
Presented by: David Leflar, Director, Legal & Legislative Services
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
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That the Annual Report of the St. Albert Integrity Commissioner, provided as an attachment to the report from Administration dated October 19, 2020 entitled “Integrity Commissioner Annual Report”, be received for information.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of this report is to transmit to Council the 2020 Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION
Section 6(g) of Bylaw 45/2017, the Integrity Commissioner Bylaw, provides that the Integrity Commissioner “shall … prepare and deliver an annual report to Council containing a summary of the Integrity Commissioner’s activities during the calendar year.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner makes two recommendations for future changes:
1. That Council consider establishing a Committee Code of Conduct Bylaw in accordance with MGA s. 146.1(3)
2. That Council consider amending the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw No. 38/2017 to allow investigations to be suspended during the 90-day time frame prior to a municipal election
Administration is not opposed to Recommendation #1 but does not believe it to be a high priority, since (a) the Code of Conduct for Council Members already applies to Council members when they are sitting as Committee members, and (b) there has been no indication to date of any concern with ethical behavior of citizen members of Council Committees. Accordingly, it is not recommended to devote time and resources to drafting such a bylaw at this time.
Administration agrees with Recommendation #2 for the reasons given in the Integrity Commissioner’s Annual Report. Accordingly, language to implement this recommendation is included as Section 12 of Schedule A to Bylaw 39/2020 amending the Code of Conduct Bylaw, which is a separate item on the Agenda of the October 19, 2020 ...
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