This story was previously posted on StratfordToday.ca
Stratford city council voted to adopt a revised version of its controversial Respectful Workplace Policy Monday night, with a new three-part policy taking its place.
The new policy is the result of staff presenting three options to council following a decision at the July 22 regular meeting that saw council ask staff to review the existing policy and review options for improving or replacing it.
Three options were presented at the meeting: separating the current policy into three separate policies, removing the public portion of the current policy and focusing on a code of conduct for council, local boards and committees and a respectful workplace for employees, or to maintain the policy as it was written.
Dave Bush, the city’s human resources director, indicated in his report that the first option was favoured by staff because the previous policy muddied the waters by layering the public, council and city employees together with little to no distinction.
“The original Respectful Workplace Policy aimed to establish a framework that ensured respect and professional conduct towards staff, members of the public and council members in city-owned facilities,” he said. “We believed that having one policy would simplify implementation and enforcement, making it easier for everyone to understand their rights and responsibilities. After careful consideration, we have created three distinct policies to clarify the groups to which they apply and that the purpose of each is clearly understood.”
Mike Sullivan, who was one of a small group of citizens that ran afoul of the previous policy earlier this year and was banned from city property and functions for a three-month period, told council he had concerns with the new policy because it lacked mechanisms for transparency during any kind of application.
“As a member of the city’s Energy and Environment Committee, I wonder just what protection I will have,” he said. “The city has already stated that one cannot complain under the existing workplace policy against a councillor, and the revised policy does not clarify this. I have been and will continue to be critical of council, not just for breaking the law but for failing to take seriously the climate emergency. Approving giant housing projects that continue to heat with fossil fuels, and fail to provide charging stations will cost the future residents and the city. But the policy now seems to suggest that such criticism can be the source of a future ban.”
Sullivan went on to add his concerns about wording in the new policy, citing the ‘frivolous and vexatious’ section in his remarks.
“According to the city, I am guilty already of being ‘frivolous and vexatious’ for seeking information through Freedom of Information requests,” he said, referencing his own investigation into the city’s dealings with the Xinyi glass plant project. “I sought the contract between the city and Chris Pigeon, though the city could not find it. More recently I have filed two requests for information on the bans (of citizens), though the city has refused and claims to have lost the security video. I politely asked for copies of minutes of illegally closed meetings, and I was instructed by the city to file a Freedom of Information request – I have now filed two. To now use those requests as justification for finding future requests as vexatious is a form of entrapment.”
Bush said that the intent of any disciplinary action that arises from violation of the policy is to correct behaviour that is not acceptable, and that an appeal process is listed within the Public Conduct Policy for those that wish to use it.
“The Public Conduct Policy lists potential restrictions and penalties that may be applied after a thorough review or investigation,” he said. “Each case will be considered on an individual case by case basis, given the circumstances and severity of the issue.”
Prior to the vote on the new policy when fielding questions from councillors, Bush made it clear that it was not going to be weaponized to use as a deterrent.
“We can still have highly contested conversations, but we have to do it respectfully,” he said. “There is room in this policy for reconciliation, absolutely. I see this as a guiding document for respectful interaction.”
In a recorded vote, the new three-part policy was approved 7-2 with councillors Larry McCabe and Taylor Briscoe absent from the meeting.
