By Kari Janzen, Staff Reporter
Tofield mayor Adam Hall brought forward a civility pledge, drafted by Town of Tofield Administration, for discussion at Council’s regular meeting held Monday, Nov. 10. Hall said that he felt that it would be a good idea for Council to consider committing to a set of standards since the Provincial government repealed all municipal codes of conduct through Bill 50 earlier this year, with a replacement code of conduct yet to be introduced.
“The first item of new business is something that I requested to have added to the agenda for discussion, and not to implement tonight, but to discuss and then rework if we need to,” Hall said.
“You will all remember from organizational training that there is no longer a code of conduct that we are held to. You will also remember that (the Provincial government) said that they didn’t know when or how that would come back. And so, as I started pondering it, it made sense to me that maybe we could look at something that we could pledge to one another, that we would conduct ourselves in a civil manner as councillors, and understand that there will be times where we have differing opinions, but that differences of opinions does not mean that we take it outside and throw punches or something like that,” Hall said with a laugh.
Hall said that he met with Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jeff Edwards to discuss the idea, and Edwards drafted a Pledge of Civility for both Council and for the CAO.
“Prior to the election,” Edwards said, “I had reached out to our legal firm to ask about our ability to reinstate the councillor code of conduct policy, and we are not able to reimplement the policy, as the Province has prevented our ability to do so. As Mayor Hall had mentioned, that also revokes the Council Code of Conduct bylaw as well. So, there is nothing in place for municipalities,” Edwards said.
Hall asked to hear Council’s thoughts, whether they liked it, didn’t, or wanted to see changes.
“I really like this,” Deputy Mayor Brenda Chehade said. “I was concerned at the meeting when (the government) said that they were taking the code of conduct away. I love the wording in this pledge; it’s really well written. I’m very much in favour of this,” she said.
Councillor Dustin Terpstra agreed, Councillor Jennifer Durrant said she 100 per cent agreed with what Chehade said, and Councillor Elaine Taylor said she liked the proposed pledge.
The pledge states that council members “will always strive to conduct debates – whether in person, online, or in written communication – in ways that allow for the widest range of opinions on ideas and policies, yet also respect the dignity, integrity, and rights of those with whom we might disagree,” pledging to listen first, respect different opinions, be courteous, disagree constructively, and debate the policy, not the person.
The full pledge can be found on the Town of Tofield website, in the Nov. 10 agenda package. Edwards also said that a pledge has not been made to the community by the CAO, which he is happy to do.
“To be quite open, I am very happy to have that provided as well, because that is not only my commitment to the council members, but it is my commitment to the community also,” he said.
Key components of the CAO pledge include a commitment to “conduct myself as your chief policy advisor in an honest and ethical manner, provide advice, on all issues, which is professionally sound, ethical, legal and in accordance with the policies and objectives of council, and to admit to any mistakes of substance made by myself or my staff and take corrective action.”
Hall asked Edwards if the pledges should be brought back to the next meeting to be signed, or if it could be done that evening if Council were in favour.
“You have two choices within this capacity. One would be to have a motion to have this brought back to the next meeting, or if Council is prepared to sign it this evening, you could do that as well. It is at the discretion of Council,” Edwards said.
Chehade moved that Council sign the pledge at that meeting. Hall asked for any comments or concerns on the motion, and Taylor brought up the fact that Durrant hadn’t been able to read the pledge before the meeting, due to an undetermined issue with receiving the agenda through email earlier.
“I’ve been speed reading it really quick,” Durrant said, “and I’m in agreement with the wording of it. I’d be happy to sign it tonight.”
The motion was carried unanimously and the mayor and all councillors, and the CAO, signed the respective pledge of civility.
