Politics

Integrity Commisioner Draft By-Law Revised

By Ryan McGreal
Published June 06, 2008

The June 9 Committee of the Whole (COW) will receive a new report from the Accessibility and Transparency Sub-Committee, coupled with a revised draft of the Integrity Commisioner by-law.

The biggest change is removing the prohibition against complainants publicly disclosing their complaint while the complaint is under investigation. In the previous draft, Section 12(2) read:

Where a Complainant is found by the Integrity Commissioner to have disclosed, or permitted the disclosure of the existence of, or the contents of, their Complaint in any manner not required under this By-law, the Complaint shall be deemed to be frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith

After discussing the prior recommendation to change the language from "shall" to "may" - in effect leaving it to the commissioner's discretion - the subcommittee resolved instead to strike section 12 entirely.

This is good news for transparency and accountability in a city whose affairs can only benefit from the bright light of public disclosure.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By Integrity Watcher (anonymous) | Posted June 10, 2008 at 10:32:20

Anyone know what's happening with this?

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By highwater (registered) | Posted June 10, 2008 at 10:38:53

This was in the Spec today:

www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/383764

Dave Mitchell is objecting to the cost. I'm sure he just has the best interests of the tax-payers in mind.

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