Oakville’s integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig has dismissed complaints against Mayor Rob Burton arising from inaccurate statements he made during a May council meeting.
But Craig is looking into how the town’s code of conduct for council members should be rewritten, after finding that it doesn’t expressly oblige councillors to “make honest statements and not to mislead council or members of the public.”
The lawyer, who serves as integrity commissioner for both Oakville and Halton region, provided details on her ruling in a rare public report that appeared on Oakville council's Aug. 13 meeting agenda.
Because Burton was absent for that meeting, town councillors opted to defer discussion and acceptance of the report until their next council meeting on Sept. 16.
Two complaints were filed against Burton following a May 6 meeting, where he told councillors that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) prohibiting him from discussing the details of a housing deal he had made with the federal government.
Read more here: Town reneges on secret deal signed by mayor
Ward 1 councillor Sean O’Meara, whose questions had prompted the mayor to claim the existence of a NDA, subsequently filed a complaint to the integrity commissioner after discovering that no such agreement existed.
“This is a violation of the principles of the Code of Conduct that are premised on honesty, fairness and transparency,” said O’Meara’s complaint.
A similar complaint was also filed by Michael Reid, the president of the Oakville Community Association who has made two unsuccessful attempts to win a seat on town council.
The complaints alleged that Burton misled the public and councillors about what information could be shared with whom.
After interviewing the mayor, Craig dismissed the complaints against him.
While his reference to an NDA was inaccurate, she found the mayor had relied on advice from town staff who had warned him and council that “strict rules on when funding agreements can be announced” were part of the agreement with the federal government.
According to her report, Burton told her that he had a thousand things going through his mind and meant to say that he signed an agreement that was covered by confidentiality, rather than that he signed an NDA.
The mayor was correct about a confidentiality clause banning public discussion of the agreement with the federal government, Craig found.
“His misuse of the phrase NDA was not intended to mislead,” she said.
“However, (Burton’s) language gave the incorrect impression that the NDA also prohibited him from sharing information with council members. That statement was made when he was attempting to shield non-public information from disclosure in a public meeting.”
She found that the mayor “had an honest belief” that confidentiality obligations prevented him from speaking publicly about the agreement, and that he relied on advice from the town’s professional staff to form that belief.
Given that, she found he did not violate section 6 of the council code of conduct, which requires members to “conduct themselves with decorum.”
Craig also noted that the town’s current code of conduct only requires councillors to behave with decorum but does not specifically require them to be honest or truthful in their remarks.
While decorum is not defined in the code, Craig noted that it should be understood to include an obligation to be truthful. But she added that a clearly written code of conduct protects the public interest and helps ensure a common understanding of acceptable conduct.
“For example, the City of Barrie’s Council Code of Conduct sets out that: Members are responsible for making honest statements. No member shall make a statement when they know that statement is false. No member shall make a statement with the intent to mislead Council or members of the public,” her report notes.
Craig notes that as part of her appointment (as integrirty commissioner), she has been asked to review the town’s code of conduct to include “best practices of accountability rules at the municipal level.”
“I will turn my mind to the inclusion of the fundamental principles of honesty and truth in my future submissions to Council,” the report continues.
It is not clear who authorized her to undertake that review.
Typically Craig does not issue a public report when integrity complaints are dismissed, but she pointed to the confusion, misunderstanding and public interest in this case as factors convincing her to report publicly.
