A vote to change the town’s communication protocol for questions related to high-profile matters such as the judicial inquiry did not receive unanimous support at council.
In a 7-2 vote, council passed an amendment to the town’s corporate communication protocol stating questions about “high profile issues such as the judicial inquiry” must be immediately referred to and addressed by the mayor, or the deputy mayor in the absence of the mayor. The motion further states the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) may be consulted prior to the issue being addressed.
The change to the protocol came up as a result of a motion passed by the previous council in June, 2018. At that time, council passed a motion stating all questions relating to the judicial inquiry and other high-profile matters be directed to the CAO.
Councillor Kathy Jeffery brought forward the updated motion to add the mayor and deputy mayor to the protocol at last night’s meeting (May 13).
“It made sense during the election,” said Jeffery. “I think now we’re ready to move on and go back to the way it was.”
Mayor Brian Saunderson also called the move a return to normal.
“The motion … is just returning to status quo when the mayor was spokesperson for council,” said Saunderson.
Saunderson did respond to questions from a CBC reporter in early April on the judicial inquiry, delivering his opinion on the foundation document and the inquiry so far. The story ran on April 15, prior to council making any changes to the previous amendments directing questions on the judicial inquiry to the CAO. Saunderson said he spoke to the CAO prior to doing the interview.
The Corporate Communications Protocol as it was in 2017 stated issues regarding pending litigation, exposure to litigation, high profile or personnel issues, or emergency situations must be immediately referred to the CAO, clerk, and communications officer. There was no specific claus regarding communication on high profile issues such as the judicial inquiry until the amendment in June, 2018.
There is a section of the Municipal Act identifying the head of council (mayor) as chief executive officer and the representative of the municipality both within and outside the municipality.
Councillors Yvonne Hamlin and Tina Comi both voted against the change to the communications protocol. Both took exception to the phrase “high-profile issues” and said without a clear definition of what a high-profile issue is, they couldn’t support the amendment to the protocol.
Comi said the protocol amendment was potentially redundant when considering the other documents such as the council code of conduct, and the rest of the communications policy.
“Our job is not to hide the facts, but to bring them forward,” said Comi. “As a new councillor, I have great concern [about the definition of high-profile]. I consider it vague, and it concerns me.”
Councillor Hamlin suggested this particular communications policy be implemented on a case by case matter as these special high-profile matters come up.
Deputy Mayor Keith Hull said his term on the 2010 to 2014 council made him understand why the 2014-2018 council passed a motion limiting communication on high profile matters to the CAO.
“I fully appreciate and understand why the previous council … made a change to direct all inquiries to the CAO,” said Hull. “I think there’s been a positive change around the table, and I see that common sense prevails and we can move forward, going back to the way things used to be.”
