City council unanimously approved on Monday a new whistleblower policy which intends to give elected officials and city staff a mechanism to raise concerns related to serious misconduct.
It also outlines a process for investigating such concerns and provides protection from retaliation to those who report concerns or participate in related investigative processes.
In January 2021, the city publicly committed to developing a whistleblower policy following the fallout from the city’s George Street Parkade Project which went millions of dollars over budget without city council knowing about it.
The preliminary budget for the project was $12.6 million, but the final cost came to $34.16 million – $22.46 million for the parkade, $597,138 to connect the parkade to the city's district energy system, and $11.1 million for water and sewer upgrades in the area, and other off-site works.
An independent legal review by lawyer and municipal law expert Sukhbir Manhas outlined a number of occasions when city council could have been informed of the real cost of the project.
At a special closed council meeting on Jan. 17, council directed the acting city manager to develop a draft whistleblower policy and return a report to council for approval.
That report was presented to council for approval at its Nov. 8 public meeting.
The city said in developing the policy, administration consulted its union partners and researched similar policies at peer municipalities and other sources for comparison purposes and has incorporated what it believes to be best practices.
“The policy includes provisions to ensure concerns brought forward by are dealt with as confidentially as possible and provides protection from retaliation for those who bring complaints and concerns forward,” said Rae-Ann Emery, director of corporate services.
Before the policy was approved, Coun. Brian Skakun inquired as to how councillors would be kept informed of serious misconduct allegations.
City manger Walter Babicz explained that an allegation of an employee, other than the city manager, goes to an administrative process for the designated recipient to handle under the oversight and direction of the city manager.
“If there is an allegation against the city manager, it goes jointly to the director of corporate services and the mayor, as a representative of city council, and the policy speaks to the process and the type of external expertise that is engaged, and council is informed at that.”
He added that if a member of city council is a subject of wrongdoing, then the designated recipients are administration but external expertise is brought in as well and city council would be kept informed of the results.
“It is really important everybody knows this policy exists and I think it will solve some of the issues we’ve seen in the past, which is the catalyst for this policy coming forward,” said Coun. Kyle Sampson.
“I encourage every employee to take note of it, take a copy, and be willing to come forward if they see something going wrong because it is all of our responsibility.”
Coun. Susan Scott, who brought the initial motion forward in the closed meeting, said she was grateful for the time and energy staff spent on developing the policy.
“I think this council has been declarative in the last year that what our city employees are experiencing from top to bottom, inside and out, matters,” said Scott.
“It matters to us, and it matters to our city. I think giving this tool to our employees is not going to create a huge wave of issues, but rather backstop that sense of what you are experiencing matters and here is an avenue that can help you express what you are experiencing.”
Once the draft whistleblower policy was approved by council, it went into effect immediately.
