Whereas there is currently no legislation in place that effectively safeguards local government staff or elected officials from bullying, harassment, and other inappropriate treatment at the hands of other local elected official; And whereas Worksafe BC does not include local elected officials as workers pursuant to the Workers Compensation Act, thus preventing municipal or regional district staff and other members of council or the board from utilizing Worksafe BC policies, procedures, and safeguards against bullying, harassment, and other inappropriate treatment at the hands of a local elected official; And whereas local government codes of conduct are ineffective against a local elected official who chooses to blatantly ignore and disregard council or board resolutions, including protective measures put in place to safeguard local government staff and elected officials from that local elected official; And whereas the absence of statutory or common law authority to practically and effectively prevent a local elected official from continuing to bully, harass, and mistreat municipal or regional district staff and other members of council or the board can seriously jeopardize the mental health and safety of staff and other members of council or the board; And whereas due to the risk of continued and unconstrained bullying and harassment of staff at the hands of local elected officials, local governments and their taxpayers face significant legal exposure arising out of the unsafe workplaces in the form of costly investigations, wrongful termination claims based on constructive dismissal law, and increased legal costs: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Government of British Columbia amend the Workers Compensation Act to include local elected officials in the definition of worker as defined in section 1 of that Act, thereby affording access to Worksafe BCs existing policies, procedures, and safeguards against bullying, harassment, and other inappropriate treatment at the hands of a local elected official; And be it further resolved that the Government of British Columbia adopt statutory provisions to effectively safeguard municipal or regional district staff and other members of council or the board from the ethical misconduct of local elected officials, including, without limitation, repeated bullying, harassment, and inappropriate treatment, up to and including suspension or disqualification from participation in elected office.
Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs The Province recognizes that all local elected officials and local government staff have the right to serve in a safe and harassment-free environment. The legislative framework for local elected officials generally does not support their inclusion as employees in legislation as the rules, expectations, and responsibilities for local elected officials are distinct from employees. The recognition of local elected officials as employees in provincial legislation would expand the scope of provincial involvement in the regulation of employee-related matters for local elected officials. The Ministry of Labour is responsible for WorkSafeBC, the Workers Compensation Act WCA, and its regulations. Local government elected officials are not considered workers or employers under the WCA and, therefore, the WCA does not apply to them in this capacity. The Ministry of Labour has indicated that it has no plans to amend the WCA on this issue at this time. A range of tools are available that local governments can use to strengthen responsible conduct, ethical behaviour, and accountability that may support similar desired outcomes to those legislated in the Human Rights Code or the WCA. These include codes of conduct, oaths of office, procedure bylaws, policy creation e.g., social media policies, and training opportunities and resources to support good governance and responsible conduct. The Community Charter requires municipal councils to consider adopting a code of conduct that sets out expected behaviours and actions of elected officials as well as the investigative procedures and consequences of breaching the code. Codes of conduct provide local governments with the flexibility and autonomy to investigate and make decisions about how they will remedy breaches among elected officials and encourage more desirable behaviors moving forward. The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs continues to work with our partners at the Union of BC Municipalities and the Local Government Management Association to explore ways to strengthen BCs responsible conduct framework to make sure local governments have the tools and resources to address the complex and multi-faceted issue of responsible conduct.