April 23, 2018
Manitoba Government to Review The Municipal Act to Strengthen Protections for Municipal Officials
The Manitoba government will be reviewing The Municipal Act to identify opportunities to strengthen protections for municipal officials, Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton announced today at the Manitoba Municipal Administrators Association Conference and Annual General Meeting.
“All elected officials are expected to govern in the best interests of their communities and our government has been very clear all employees have a right to a respectful workplace,” said Wharton. “The province will review The Municipal Act and other relevant legislation to identify opportunities to strengthen municipalities’ ability to enforce violations of their codes of conduct. Any potential amendments would require careful consideration and would be developed in consultation with municipalities and other stakeholders.”
Under The Municipal Act, all municipalities are required to adopt a code of conduct that establishes guidelines on acceptable behavior for council members in dealing with each other, employees and citizens.
“Everyone deserves a safe and respectful work environment including municipal elected officials,” said Chris Goertzen, president, Association of Manitoba Municipalities. “We look forward to working with Minister Wharton to determine ways to strengthen not only the legislation around harassment and bullying in municipal workplaces, but our ability to enforce the rules.”
The majority of councils take the public trust bestowed on them very seriously and strive to carry out their responsibilities and exercise their authority in accordance with good governance practices and their code of conduct, Wharton said. However, code of conduct violations continue to be an issue and enforcement of violations is a challenge for many councils; our government is committed to ensuring municipalities have the legislative authorities they need to govern effectively, he added.
“We believe that all our members will welcome this timely initiative,” said Heather Ewasiuk, president, Manitoba Municipal Administrators’ Association. “We are confident that this will help to improve the environment in which municipal employees and elected officials, alike, work for and serve the people of Manitoba.”
The province will be consulting with both the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and the Manitoba Municipal Administrators Association through a series of roundtable discussions across the province in June and September where input will be gathered on potential legislative changes.
“In recent months, workplaces across the continent have been going through an awakening on the issue of harassment, particularly sexual harassment, on the job,” said Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for status of women. “Our government is committed to diversity, inclusion and respect in the workplace and we are taking measures to correct the course going forward.”
The Manitoba government has taken considerable steps to reducing workplace harassment. On Feb. 22, a ‘no wrong door’ approach was instituted for government of Manitoba employees to bring forward complaints without fear of reprisal by providing additional reporting avenues – independent of politics – including the clerk of the executive council or the Civil Service Commission.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
BG-Municipal_Harassment-MR-SoW.pdf - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2018/04/BG-Municipal_Harassment-MR-SoW.pdf