The release of confidential information by an unnamed Barrie councillor during the last term of council has prompted an integrity commissioner report from a recent code of conduct investigation.
After about two and a half hours meeting behind closed doors late Wednesday afternoon, council passed a motion, without further discussion, to release the report, which is dated Jan. 5, 2024, next week on March 4.
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall says this council takes the breach seriously, although it happened during the 2018-22 term.
“Confidentiality is very important and for the City of Barrie it’s no different than any other level of government, or a not-for-profit or business organization," he said.
“We need to hold ourselves to the very top standards that says that information that’s confidential needs to be maintained that way and handled in a very careful, and cautious manner,” Nuttall added.
The approved motion also says the council member who’s the subject of the integrity commissioner report wishes to apologize for the release of the confidential information.
The council member has yet to be identified, however, as has the nature of the confidential information released, when and to whom it was released, and the extent to how this breach affected those involved.
“Once (the report is) released, you’ll see all of that information,” Nuttall said.
The Municipal Act states that if the integrity commissioner determines a councillor has contravened the municipality’s code of conduct, the council can impose a penalty — either a reprimand or forfeiting as much as 90 days’ pay.
Council members have the integrity commissioner’s report concerning the code of conduct investigation, related to the release of confidential information by a member of council during the previous term of council, and a confidential legal opinion concerning this matter.
City clerk Wendy Cooke will also prepare additional protocols for the handling of confidential agenda information circulated to members of council.
The motion also says the integrity commissioner’s report should be published March 4 to allow time for those involved to receive their correspondence.
Barrie’s code of conduct is an agreed-upon understanding by all members of city council about what standards they should meet in the individual conduct of their official duties.
The integrity commissioner is responsible for administering the code of conduct and assists in maintaining high ethical standards at the City of Barrie. The integrity commissioner is an independent accountability officer given authority under the Ontario Municipal Act and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
