Alberta municipalities looking for provincial integrity office [Video]

Alberta’s municipal leaders say code of conduct investigations put councillors in a difficult position with peers and the public, and they are asking the province to establish an Independent Office of Integrity to take over the responsibility.

Since 2018, Alberta has required municipal councils to have code of conduct bylaws. Local administrations are currently responsible for hiring and co-ordinating third-party investigators, a process they say can divide councils and burden taxpayers with additional expenses.

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At the Alberta Municipalities convention in Red Deer last week, members voted to advocate to the province to establish a central office to investigate code of conduct breaches and recommend disciplinary actions.

“Anybody that has had one of these code of conduct (investigations) happen in their municipality knows full well it creates conflict, they are costly to deal with, they create …