DRAFT: TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL CODE OF CONDUCT
A draft policy outlining ethical standards, principles of conduct, and confidentiality requirements for Council Members and Advisory Body Members.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL CODE OF CONDUCT
1) PURPOSE:
The purpose of this Policy is to promote ethical decision making and behaviour among Council Members, Advisory Body Members, and Staff in carrying out their functions. It is intended to encourage the highest level of professionalism and performance of duties in a manner that maintains and enhances public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity, and impartiality of decision making at the Town of View Royal.
2) SCOPE:
Council Members, Advisory Body Members
3) DEFINITIONS:
Advisory Body Member: a person sitting on an advisory committee, task force, commission, board, or other Council-established body.
Chief Administrative Officer; means Chief Administrative Officer or designate.
Confidential Information: is information that could reasonably harm the interest of individuals or organizations, including the Town of View Royal, if disclosed to persons who are not authorized to access the information. , as well as information to which section 117 of the Community Charter applies.
Council Member: the Mayor and each Councillor of the Town of View Royal.
Member: includes Advisory Body Member or Council Member.
Staff; an employee or contract employee of the Town of View Royal, and includes staff that supports Advisory Bodies.
4) FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT:
Integrity – means being honest and demonstrating strong ethical principles. Conduct under this principle upholds the public interest, is truthful and honourable, and promotes public confidence in local government.
Respect – means behaving and conducting oneself with politeness, honour, and care; having due regard for others’ perspectives, wishes, and rights; it also means displaying deference to the offices of local government, and the role of local government in community decision making. Conduct under this principle is demonstrated when a member fosters an environment of trust by demonstrating due regard for the perspectives, wishes, and rights of others and an understanding of the role of the local government.
Accountability – means an obligation and willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. Conduct under this principle is demonstrated when a member individually and collectively accepts responsibility for their actions and decisions.
Leadership and Collaboration – means an ability to lead, listen to, and positively influence others; it also means coming together to create or meet a common goal through collective efforts. Conduct under this principle is demonstrated when a member encourages individuals to work together in pursuit of collective objectives by leading, listening to, and positively influencing others.
Openness - means to be as open as possible about their decisions and actions. This means communicating appropriate information openly to the public about decision-making processes and issues being considered; encouraging appropriate public participation; communicating clearly; and providing appropriate means for recourse and feedback.
5) COMMITMENT TO RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT:
(a) Members recognize that Responsible Conduct is essential to providing good governance.
(b) Members acknowledge that Responsible Conduct is based upon four foundational principles: Integrity, Respect, Accountability, and Leadership and Collaboration Openness to which the Town and Council Members individually and collectively subscribe.
(c) Council Members expressly acknowledge that they are individually and collectively committed to conducting themselves in a responsible and ethical manner and are furthermore committed to upholding the law as they exercise their authority, fulfill their obligations, discharge their duties, and in all of their dealings, with every person, including their elected colleagues, Staff, members of the public, the media, and other community and local government stakeholders.
6) PRINCIPLES:
(a) All Council Members have a duty to act and comport themselves in accordance with the law, including, but not limited to, the common law, the Local Government Act, Community Charter, Workers' Compensation Act, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and Human Rights Code, and any applicable federal legislation.
(b) The Town and its Council are recognized under the Community Charter as a democratically elected, autonomous, responsible, and accountable order of government within their jurisdiction for the purpose of: (i) providing good government for its community; (ii) providing services and other things Council considers are necessary or desirable for all or part of its community; (iii) providing for stewardship of the public assets of its community, and (iv) fostering the current and future economic, social, and environmental well-being of its community.
(c) Members will respect the Town as an institution, its bylaws, policies, and procedures and will encourage public respect for same.
(d) Council Members must not encourage, permit or accept disobedience of any bylaw, policy, or procedure of the Municipality in responding to a member of the public, as this undermines public confidence in the Town and in the rule of law.
(e) Council Members have the legislated authority to make decisions that affect the daily lives of its residents, families, businesses, and other community stakeholders.
(f) Council Members also have the authority to establish, or help establish, the long-term vision for the communities they serve based upon community and citizen engagement, collaboration, and informed decision making.
7) STANDARDS OF RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT:
Council Members will demonstrate and abide by the Standards of Responsible Conduct set out below.
(a) Integrity is demonstrated by the following behaviours and Members will: (i) be truthful and honest in all matters and in all dealings with their elected colleagues, Staff, members of the public, other community and local government stakeholders, the media, and through social media in their role as a representative of the Town; (ii) ensure their actions are consistent with the shared principles and values collectively agreed to by the Town; (iii) follow through on their commitments in a timely manner; (iv) correct errors in a timely, transparent, and reasonable manner; (v) engage in respectful communication, dialogue, and debate in all matters and in all dealings at all times; (vi) make informed and well-reasoned decisions by directing their minds to the merits of the matter before them for consideration, ensuring that they act on the basis of relevant information, legal implications, and in consideration of the consequences of their decisions; (vii) conduct and comport themselves in a manner that promotes and inspires public confidence and trust in local government and in all of their dealings as a local government official and representative; (viii) conduct and comport themselves in a manner which avoids any perception of pecuniary or non-pecuniary conflict of interest, improper use of office, or other unethical or illegal conduct; (ix) conduct and comport themselves in a manner which upholds the public interest by diligently serving citizens and communities within their sphere of influence in a manner which best serves the communities' interests and not their own, or the interests of a select few; (x) conduct and comport themselves in a manner that is consistent, fair, non-prejudicial, non-discriminatory, and unbiased in all their dealings as a local government official and representative;
(b) Respect is demonstrated by the following behaviours and Members will: (i) treat every person with dignity, understanding, courtesy, politeness, civility, and respect irrespective of differences of opinion, perspectives, beliefs, traditions, or values; (ii) respect the role of the Chair or Presiding Official and treat that person with respect and deference at all times; (iii) abide by the rules of procedure adopted by the Town; (iv) respect the distinct roles and responsibilities of Town Staff and commit to fostering a positive working relationship between Members, Staff, members of the public, and other community and local government stakeholders; (v) refrain from publicly criticizing a member of Staff; (vi) call for, and expect that respect be shown to Members, Staff, and members of the public by other citizens, and other community and local government stakeholders; (vii) value the role of diverse perspectives and show due consideration for every person's contributions by listening actively and respectfully to another person's perspective or point of view during discussion, debate, collaboration. and decision making; (viii) demonstrate awareness of their own conduct and behaviour, and manage and adjust their conduct and behaviour accordingly and as circumstances warrant; (ix) create an environment of trust, consider and be sensitive to how their choice of words, tone, conduct, and behaviour can be perceived by others as offensive, rude, derogatory, disrespectful, discriminatory, harassing, bullying, aggressive, combative, insulting, inflammatory, or otherwise hurtful or inappropriate; and (x) not engage in conduct or behaviour that is or ought to be known to be indecent, obscene, insulting, abusive, or otherwise unbefitting of a Member and Town representative. This conduct or behaviour includes, but is not limited to, unwanted physical or sexual contact or comments, and/or any form of aggressive or threatening conduct or behaviour that may or ought to be known to cause harm to any person or which makes a person feel threatened, humiliated, or intimidated.
(c) Accountability is demonstrated by the following behaviours and Members will: (i) be responsible for and accept responsibility for decisions they make as an elected official or representative of the Town; (ii) be accountable for their individual actions and for the actions of the collective governing body; (iii) actively listen to and consider the opinions, viewpoints, and needs of the community in all decision-making, and allow for meaningful and appropriate opportunities for citizen and community input, engagement, discourse, and feedback; (iv) carry out their business, duties, and responsibilities in an open and transparent manner, ensuring that the public understands the process and rationale used to reach informed decisions and the reasons and justifications for taking certain actions; and (v) ensure that information is accessible to the extent possible under law, while also protecting privacy and confidentiality where appropriate, necessary, or in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of British Columbia, and the confidentiality provisions of the Local Government Act and Community Charter.
(d) Leadership and Collaboration is demonstrated by the following behaviours and Members will: (i) proactively and routinely monitor and measure their performance to ensure the foundational principles with respect to Responsible Conduct are being followed by all Members and the collective governing body; (ii) behave in a manner that instills and builds public trust and confidence in local government; (iii) recognize that vigorous discourse and deliberation on a matter is integral to the democratic process and will encourage healthy, respectful and constructive debate prior to making a decision with respect to a matter; (iv) make decisions collaboratively as a collective governing body; (v) actively participate in debate about the merits of the matter before them; (vi) without restricting Council’s authority to reconsider a matter, accept, respect and work towards implementation of Council’s decisions; (vii) as leaders of their communities, face challenges, obstacles, controversy, and adversity calmly, respectfully, diplomatically, professionally, and with due consideration while endeavoring to find effective and appropriate solutions through clear direction to Staff, and to empower each other and Staff to face challenges, obstacles, controversy, and adversity in the same manner; and (viii) recognize and value the distinct roles and responsibilities that others play in providing good governance and commit to fostering a positive working relationship between Members, Advisory Body Members, staff, members of the public, the media, and community and other local government stakeholders.
(e) For examples of what constitutes unacceptable conduct in which Members must not engage and if so engaged will be considered a violation of this Policy, see Schedule “A”.
8) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:
(a) Council Members have a statutory duty to comply with the conflict of interest provisions as set out in the Community Charter.
(b) Council Members may request that the Chief Administrative Officer seek a legal opinion from the Town Solicitor with respect to situations that may result in a real or perceived conflict of interest.
(c) Council Members are to be free from undue influence and not act or appear to act to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, family, friends, or associates, business or otherwise.
(d) Council Members must approach decision-making with an open mind that is capable of persuasion.
9) USE OF TOWN PROPERTY, ASSETS, AND PREMISES:
(a) Council Members must not make unauthorized use of any Town property, assets, or other resources for personal reasons. In addition, Members must ensure that any property (including cash, cheques, documents, inventories, and equipment) in their care is properly secured and protected at all times. This responsibility extends to the use and security of any corporate credit or access code cards.
(b) Council Members must use municipal property, equipment, services, supplies, and Staff resources only for the performance of their duties as a Member, subject to the following limited exceptions: (i) municipal property, equipment, service, supplies, and Staff resources that are available to the general public may be used by a Member for personal use upon the same terms and conditions as members of the general public, including booking and payment of any applicable fees or charges; and (ii) electronic communication devices, including but not limited to desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, which are supplied by the Town to a Member, may be used by the Member for limited personal use, provided that the use is strictly personal and not offensive, inappropriate, or for personal gain and complies with any applicable Town bylaw, policy, procedure, or direction, which may be amended from time to time.
10) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION:
(a) Council Members must not use or disclose any confidential information acquired in the course of the Member’s duties with the Town, unless to do so is in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. For example, Members must keep the following information confidential: (i) information that is personal; (ii) information that constitutes the proprietary information of a third party, individual, or group; (ii) information that might reasonably be regarded as having been disclosed to the Member in confidence; (iii) information is of a sensitive nature; and (iv) information that imparts to the person in possession of such information an advantage not available to the public generally.
(b) Council Members must: (i) only access information needed for Town business and as it relates to their work as Member; (ii) only use confidential information for the purpose for which it is intended to be collected and used;
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