Council & Committee Members Code of Conduct

The City of Kingston, council and staff are committed to increasing openness, accountability and transparency as part of the life of the municipality. This commitment is consistent with Provincial efforts to make municipal government understandable and approachable for citizens. The Province of Ontario provides that a Code of Conduct must be established for council and that an Integrity Commissioner shall be appointed by the City to perform, in an independent manner, the functions assigned by the City with respect to the application of the Code of Conduct.

The Integrity Commissioner will provide accountability services to the City including:

1. to provide advice on the application of the Code of Conduct, City policies, procedures and rules, the complaint protocol and sections 5, 5(1) or 5(2) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act;
2. to conduct inquiries, as directed by council or on the integrity commissioner's own initiative, regarding whether a member has contravened the Code of Conduct or sections 5, 5(1) or 5(2) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act;
3. to provide advice to a member, upon written request, respecting the member's obligations under the Code of Conduct, City policies, procedures and rules, the complaint protocol and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act;
4. to provide opinions on policy matters and make other reports to council as requested on issues of ethics and integrity;
5. to provide educational information and training to council, to members and to the public on matters related to the Code of Conduct and issues of ethics and integrity and to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act;
6. to provide general information to members of the public, on request, about the Code of Conduct, the complaint protocol and the availability of complaint resolution services or referrals as contemplated by the complaint protocol;
7. to maintain custody and control of the integrity commissioner's complaint and inquiry files and, on completion of his or her term of appointment, to transfer open files relating to ongoing matters to the incoming Integrity Commissioner appointed by council;
8. to provide such other services respecting ethical and integrity matters as assigned by council or as may be required by the Municipal Act, 2001.

Complaint Protocol

This is a summary of the complaint protocol. Complaints can be informal or formal.

Informal Complaints

Informal complaints are a means of remedying the behaviour or activity believed to violate the Code of Conduct. The parties involved are encouraged to take advantage of the Integrity Commissioner's potential role as a mediator/conciliator of issues relating to a complaint.

Formal Complaints

Please refer to the full complaint protocol for details on the treatment of formal complaints. Formal complaints should be submitted via written request.  All complaints should contain the following information:

• Name of municipality
• Complainant's name, mailing address, telephone number and email address
• Nature and background of the particular occurrence
• Any activities undertaken (if any) to resolve the concern
• Any other information

Formal complaints may be submitted by mail or delivery directly to:

City Integrity Commissioner
Aird & Berlis LLP
John Mascarin
jmascarin@airdberlis.com
416-865-7721

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