A proposed Code of Conduct Bylaw for North Cowichan would exclude citizens from the right to file complaints against council members who display bad behaviour.

The bylaw says council members must not “engage with others in the Municipality, including Staff, members of the public and other Council Members, in a manner that is abusive, bullying, intimidating or derogatory.”

The bylaw goes on to say that only “a Council Member, Committee Member or Staff member may submit a complaint” to the Chief Administrative Officer, or, if the complaint involves the CAO, to the Corporate Officer.

That leaves citizens out of the process, unless they could persuade a council member or committee member to lodge a complaint based on information they provide.

A staff report on the proposed bylaw contains no information on why the public should be excluded from making a complaint.

The Union of BC Municipalities and the Local Government Management Association of BC jointly published a report in 2024 entitled: Potential for Change, Responsible Conduct Framework for Local Government Elected Officials.

The report states, in part: "Some codes of conduct in British Columbia are designed to allow complaints concerning elected official conduct to be submitted only by other local elected officials. Other codes allow complaints from staff and volunteers, as well. A few go further to allow complaints from any person, which in practice includes members of the public.

"Making the codes broadly accessible may help to emphasize the importance of responsible conduct on the part of elected officials not only in their interactions with other elected officials, but also in their treatment of local government staff and in their dealings with members of the public.

"Allowing complaints from all of these sources, however, may risk making the process of administering codes unwieldy, or even expose the process to misuse."

A 2022 on-line report by the Vancouver law office of Young Anderson entitled, ‘Codes of conduct and more, elected officials behaving badly,’ noted there are pros and cons to both approaches.

"Allowing members of the public to complain, as have the cities of Vancouver and Surrey, will necessarily result in more complaints to manage.

“This can be expensive and taxing from an administrative perspective, but enhances elected official accountability.

“However, limiting complaints only to elected officials, as some other local governments have, while it may cut down on cost, can have a detrimental effect on the relationships on the council or board.”

The City of Vancouver’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner handled 31 complaints over the 12-month period ending Oct. 31, 2024. https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/2024-annual-report.pdf

The office dismissed 22 complaints, and closed seven, for reasons such as not falling under the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct By-law. Others were found not to be breaches after a preliminary assessment. The commissioner published two investigation reports for complaints during that reporting period.

The office has an annual budget of $200,000.

According to the 2021 census, Vancouver had a population of 662,248, compared with 31,990 in North Cowichan.

The bylaw coming before North Cowichan council on Wednesday addresses a wide range of issues, such as interactions with staff, social-media posts, conduct at meetings, handling of confidential information, conflict of interest, and accepting gifts.

It allows for informal resolution and referral to a third-party investigator, and for penalties such as a letter of reprimand, a requirement for training or counselling, and public censure.

The bylaw would replace a Standards of Conduct Policy first adopted by council in 2018. Council updated the policy in 2023, and directed staff to conduct a more thorough analysis and report back.

The staff report says the new bylaw “replaces the current policy with enforceable provisions and introduces a formal complaint process, investigation framework, and clear sanctions, while ensuring transparency, fairness, and alignment with best practices.”

Read the proposed bylaw: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=21817

How the bylaw differs from the policy: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=21818

(Do you have a comment for council? Write council@northcowichan.ca.)

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— Larry Pynn, Dec. 15, 2025