Tierney Issue: City Requires A Complaint

This newsletter excerpt is courtesy of the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours

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Below is the latest information we have received from Integrity Commissioner Karen Shepherd related to ongoing questions about Beacon Hill-Cyrville Councillor Tim Tierney’s cone-tossing issue.

Initially, the Commissioner indicated that the cone toss issue was outside her jurisdiction as it occurred on a highway offramp and would, therefore, fall under provincial oversight and the Highway Traffic Act. We clarified that the highway remains under City authority, and also shared with her that a list member was advised by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s office (after he received a complaint about Tierney) that the issue needed to be directed to the Integrity Commissioner.

Below is her latest response, which includes more details about how the process works if someone has issues with a Councillor’s code of conduct (be it on the Tierney incident or any future ones), with multiple links to all sites someone would need to prepare a complaint.

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Your Applewood Acres (& Beyond) Neighbours

From Commissioner Karen Shepherd
Aug. 7, 2024

Thank you for your email to obtain clarity on who is responsible for administering the Code of Conduct for Members of Council, including receiving and investigating, as necessary, complaints regarding Members’ behavior.

As Integrity Commissioner, my mandate includes oversight of the Code of Conduct for Members of Council. Anyone who believes that the actions or behaviour of a sitting Member of Ottawa City Council have contravened the Code of Conduct may initiate an informal complaint or may file a formal complaint with my Office. Information on both of those processes is available here, and you may certainly continue to send questions about the process to this address. Please note that a formal complaint must cite the section(s) of the Code that you believe the Member contravened, and must include information on the alleged contraventions, including any supporting evidence, documentation, or witnesses to the alleged action/behaviour.

My role is set out in the Municipal Act, 2001, and the process I am required to follow is set out in the Council-approved Complaint Protocol. I cannot initiate any inquiry respecting alleged non-compliance with the Code without first receiving a request for investigation. My initial impression based on information provided was that the core issue may fall outside of my jurisdiction.  At this point, as you have not submitted a request for investigation, I have not initiated an inquiry into the matters you raise. As such, I do not have in-depth knowledge of the matters at the core of your complaint.

With that said, as noted above, should you or anyone believe that the actions or behaviour of a sitting Member of Council have contravened the Code of Conduct, you may initiate an informal complaint or file a formal complaint with my Office. As described in my previous email, one of the first things I do when I receive a complaint is to confirm that it falls within my jurisdiction. If it does not, as set out in Sections 4 and 5 of the Complaint Protocol, I advise the complainant accordingly.

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