THUNDER BAY -- City council likely chose to venture into uncharted waters when it comes to how it's investigated for complaints.
On Monday council was set to vote on on its proposed code of conduct, which would require the appointment of an integrity commissioner, to set up a formal complaint process.
After a closed door meeting that included a report from the city solicitor, council withdrew the code of conduct, which means as of Jan. 1 city council would be under the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman.
Starting next year, the office will have broadened powers to oversee municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals. Council's code, overseen by the integrity commissioner, would have made the ombudsman's oversight unnecessary.
"The provincial ombudsman's office will be available to investigate complaints as they relate to the conduct of council members," Coun. Trevor Giertuga said.
"With an upcoming tough budget process looming, the thought of adding additional redundant services to the local tax bill was not something that council was prepared to endorse.
"As the integrity commissioner and a code of conduct go hand in hand, the code of conduct resolution was pulled from the agenda."
City clerk John Hannam said the appointed commissioner would have been called in when complaints against council, a rare occurrence in Thunder Bay, are made and paid an hourly fee. It's similar to the city's appointed closed door meeting investigator.
"They're essentially an outside contractor," he said.
Hannam said the city's proposed code outlined principles that, if someone complained were being broken by a councillor, could be investigated.
An issue with leaving it to the ombudsman is that there is no universal code of conduct for municipalities in Ontario.
"By what measure would they judge a member of council's behaviour? So that's unknown," he said.
"We don't know because they've never done it. This is new territory."
Presumably the ombudsman will rely on other municipal codes, there are about 40 in Ontario, to make reasonable decisions Hannam said but the way that office handled its closed door investigations was often fraught with confrontation and controversy.
The ombudsman's office will hold a media conference Wednesday releasing its annual report and discussing its new roles.
