Move to clean up city hall

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This article was published 12/06/2015 (3849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg will become the first Canadian city to have whistleblower protection entrenched in provincial legislation.

The enhanced protection to civic employees was part of a package of amendments to the Winnipeg Charter tabled by the Selinger government Thursday.

“It’s a big step forward for the City of Winnipeg,” Drew Caldwell, municipal government minister, said during a news conference outside the mayor’s office.

“Winnipeg will be the first municipality in Canada to be covered under the (provincial) whistleblower legislation. It’s a huge step forward in this country for municipal accountability.”

Other provisions of Bill 39, made at the request of city hall, include requiring council to write a new code of conduct and set out new rules governing the sale and purchase of land and the need for land appraisals — issues that have surfaced in the past two years following a series of land deals and construction projects, one of which is the subject of an RCMP investigation.

The whistleblower legislation was cited by Caldwell and Mayor Brian Bowman as the most significant piece of the legislative changes — the culmination of intense lobbying by rookie St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard to protect civic employees who identify fraud and other misdeeds.

“I’m pleased to see the provincial government move so quickly on new protections for whistleblowers at the municipal level,” Allard said. “During the campaign, I heard that accountability was a top priority for Winnipeg voters, and I think this is a significant step in the right direction.”

Allard lobbied councillors for their support for greater protection for employees who report wrongdoing. He proposed the City of Winnipeg Charter incorporate the type of protection given to provincial employees.

Allard said existing protocols to encourage civic employees to report suspected cases of fraud or improper behaviour are weak.

The city’s own whistleblower policy was adopted in 2006, and it has operated a fraud hotline for two years. But it only did so in secret, meaning it only received 16 complaints.

Caldwell congratulated Bowman and members of council for taking action so soon after the October election to ensure they have power to deal with the concerns that have dogged city hall.

Bowman said council has been determined to put policies and practices into place that will help restore public confidence in city hall, following the damning audits into civic land deals, the fire-paramedic station replacement program and the police headquarters project, which is the subject of the RCMP investigation.

“We still have a lot of work to do to ensure all charter changes are in place to ensure that the city… has a strong foundation to rebuild our trust with our citizens,” Bowman said.

Council recently asked the province for authority to create a lobbyist registry, and earlier, there were repeated requests for an ethics commissioner.

Couns. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and Ross Eadie (Mynarski) echoed their support for the changes but said the province needs to go further to restore accountability.

Gerbasi, the longest-serving member of council and who first called for an ethics commissioner in 2008, said the amendments introduced by the province are significant but more changes are needed.

“To deal with councillors’ ethical behaviour, we need more tools than what’s here,” Gerbasi said. “We need the investigative powers and the ability to have disciplinary consequences that are really meaningful and a lobbyists registry.”

Caldwell said the province will consider further legislative changes.

While there are policies in place addressing council conduct, land deals and appraisals, Caldwell said enshrining new rules in law will allow councillors to design effective rules that are enforceable. “Given the drama that has occurred at city hall over the last number of years and given the public scrutiny… I think we’ll see a very robust document.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca