Vancouver lawyer to review City Council code of conduct after summer of turmoil over Integrity Commissioner

Vancouver City Council has appointed a lawyer to lead a review of the city’s code of conduct bylaw, after the council backed away from a plan to get rid of the Integrity Commissioner.

In an announcement Friday, the city says lawyer Reece Harding has 60 days to review the bylaw.

His review will look to clarify the scope of the Integrity Comissioner’s work, determine the effectiveness of the bylaw, and report back to council with any recommendations to improve it.

Specifically, the city says, Harding will focus on these key areas:

• Whether the scope of the Integrity Commissioner’s role is sufficiently clear and does not overlap with other legislation or oversight bodies.
• The effectiveness of the by-law in setting out the rules for Council and advisory board members and the powers and procedures of the Integrity Commissioner in exercising oversight.
• The appropriateness of the by-law’s scope and its alignment with best practices.
• The adequacy of the complaint processes and procedures under the by-law, including the potential need for an appeal process.
• Recommendations to address any identified concerns with the operation of the by-law.

“Reece Harding is a respected senior lawyer with extensive experience in municipal law and the roles of Integrity Commissioners in British Columbia. His expertise will be invaluable in ensuring a thorough and objective review of the City’s Code of Conduct By-law,” the city said.

Harding declined a request from The Leader Spirit to comment on the situation while he completes the work.

Council recently agreed to postpone a vote on the future of the Integrity Commissioner, after Mayor Ken Sim said Coun. Pete Fry had “broken the expected confidentiality of the process” by emailing his colleagues to notify them of a complaint he was launching a day prior.

In July, council voted to freeze the work of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner and launch an independent review, citing Southern’s annual report in which she said the scope of her office and its oversight over council are not always clear.

As that vote was made, Southern was in the midst of investigating two integrity complaints involving the mayor’s office and the park board — one from each side — including accusations of political interference and breach of trust.

Those reports were released Aug. 2, ultimately dismissing the complaints, but highlighting the acrimonious relationship between the two sides as Sim and his ABC Vancouver-dominated council work to dissolve the Vancouver Park Board.

A vote to decide to whether to remove the Office of the Integrity Commissioner was deferred to Sept. 25, but the council ultimately cancelled the vote.

—With files from Charlie Carey and Cole Schisler