Report to Council re Code of Conduct: Gifts and Benefits dated November 19, 2024, be received.

41:38and that the committee of the whole meeting on October 1st, 2024 be confirmed as recorded and without being read.

41:45Any anything on those minutes?

41:48Okay, I'll call the vote. Is anyone against?

41:51Hearing and seeing none, that's unanimous.

41:54Okay, I'm sorry for real this time. We are going to the report to council on read the code of conduct, gifts and benefits.

42:02There is going to be a presentation by the integrity commissioner.

42:08John Mascarin is here. John, I can see you. Can you just test your audio?

42:13Can you hear me, Mr. Mayor?

42:16Um, barely. Let's see if it's something on our end.

42:20Did you try again, John? Yes, sure. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yeah, that's really good. You're coming through clear.

42:26So I was going to give a preamble, but I don't think I will. I think probably you'll take care of it. So

42:33John, I turn it over to you.

42:35Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of council. I'm here tonight to speak to item 8.1 on the agenda.

42:44It's a

42:45report that I've prepared.

42:47Let me tell you your code of conduct has something rather unusual in it. I haven't seen this in other codes of conduct.

42:54It's certainly not in the codes that I

42:56have drafted. There's a provision in your code of conduct that indicates if

43:04the integrity commissioner is giving advice to a member of council and discovers in the giving of the advice that there has been a

43:11contravention, the integrity commissioner is to report to council.

43:16And let me say council, that's why I'm here tonight.

43:20The report you have in front of you, it's not an incredibly detailed report and I'll try to be as brief as I can this evening and I'll leave myself available for questions.

43:32Mayor Guthrie reached out to me on November the 7th as he's done occasionally during the term of council

43:39for written advice that we are allowed to provide to members of council.

43:44Mayor Guthrie disclosed to me that he had been made aware of an article

43:50in the Vancouver Sun and he attached a copy of the article which recounted

43:55an ethics commissioner report from the city of New Westminster in BC.

44:02In that particular instance, the ethics commissioner

44:07was investigating a complaint that the mayor of New Westminster

44:12had accepted gifts and benefits in contravention of the community charter which is akin to the municipal act in BC

44:21and the code of conduct for the city.

44:24What did the mayor do in New Westminster? He accepted travel accommodation,

44:30sorry, travel, accommodation and meals

44:35from an entity known as the Global Covenant of Mayors

44:40in attending a local climate action summit in Dubai in December of 2023.

44:47Mayor Guthrie

44:49forthrightly disclosed to me that he had attended the same conference

44:55and asked me for advice as to whether he had breached anything in the code of conduct for the city of Guelph.

45:02I said to him, I will read the report from the ethics commissioner and I will get back to you.

45:08I provided my written advice to the mayor on November the 9th, so that was two days after

45:15he had requested it. The mayor fully disclosed to me that he had attended the conference. In fact, I've

45:23recently found out that he also posted on social media. He did not

45:28hide the fact that he was attending the conference.

45:32He also indicated to me that he is part of the Global Covenant of Mayors, GCOM, the Canadian cohort, and he is a director

45:45of the North American Board of Directors of GCOM.

45:51I took that in. I requested that the mayor provide me with some additional

45:59clarification. I asked if council was aware of his appointment, if council had endorsed it, if council had supported it, if council had appointed him to be appointed.

46:11The mayor again, I thought in full and frank discussion indicated to me that he did not believe any of that was the case, but that he joined

46:20this organization because it's an organization of mayors. The same instance that happened in New Westminster.

46:28I reviewed the report of the ethics commissioner in New Westminster and her conclusion was that the

46:37accommodation, the travel expenses, and the meals, but not the conference attendance, per se, the conference attendance fee,

46:47were all personal benefits to the mayor of New Westminster. In reviewing the provisions of the Code of Conduct of the City of Guelph,

46:57I came to the exact same conclusion and I indicated to Mayor Guthrie in a written response that while the

47:07statutory and other framework in BC was different from Ontario, the same essential rules applied.

47:16Therefore, I indicated to the mayor that I could not come to any other conclusion, but that I believed that he had contravened the Code of Conduct.

47:26Shortly after I wrote my written advice to the mayor on November the 9th, I was made aware that the

47:34Code of Conduct complaint had been filed against the mayor. I disclosed this to the mayor, not the actual complaint, but the fact that one had been

47:44filed, and I wrote to the complainant indicating that I had already

47:51commenced on a report as I was required to do under the provisions of the Code of Conduct of the City of Guelph.

48:00So, members of council, what you have in front of you tonight is not an investigative report. It is a report based on the advice that I gave to

48:10Mayor Guthrie and the disclosure that he made to me and my conclusions.

48:19My conclusions at the bottom are that the mayor did in receiving the hospitality that was offered by

48:26GCOM, paid for by GCOM, was in excess of what I thought was appropriate and it appeared to me to be a gift and benefit.

48:36I also indicated to him because he had told me that he was about to attend another summit, another conference put on by GCOM in Brazil.

48:46I indicated to him that I did not think it was appropriate for him to do so, and I indicated to him that I did not think it was appropriate for him to do so.

48:56I also indicated to him that he should make a public disclosure of the fact.

49:02On the Tuesday, the Monday was Remembrance Day, on the Tuesday, I understood and senior staff have confirmed that the mayor did disclose to senior staff

49:14that he had received the advice that he was canceling his trip to Brazil and that he made disclosure of the fact that I had indicated that there was a breach of the public disclosure.

49:26So the mayor followed my advice to the team.

49:32I also provided recommendations to the mayor that if he wanted to, and I wasn't sure when he was going to Brazil or when he had planned to go to Brazil, but I indicated to him that if he still wanted to, there were several options available to him and I suggested them to him.

49:51Tonight on the agenda, I understand that the mayor is seeking to move forward with one of the options that I had provided to him in my recommendations in my advice.

50:05So, counsel, my report is as it's set out, I'm happy to take questions.

50:11My conclusions are that I believe that the mayor is in contravention of the code.

50:18I believe that the mayor acted inadvertently.

50:21I believe he acted always in good faith and he was attempting to serve the better interest of the municipality, but may have just been misled in what he could accept from GCOM, which was the accommodation, hospitality and travel expenses.

50:40The mayor accepted my report.

50:43In fact, I did write to the mayor and gave him an opportunity to review the report and he said, I accept the report and I have no further comments to make.

50:52I believe the mayor has taken remedial steps by disclosing publicly disclosing the advice that I have given him or the substance of the advice by canceling his trip and by making efforts to move forward with the matter.

51:09So, on the basis of all of that, I am not recommending that there be any penalty that is to be imposed on the mayor.

51:17My ultimate conclusion is that the mayor came to me forthrightly, asked me for advice, listened to my advice, accepted my advice and in fact followed my advice.

51:30If he accepted the gifts and benefits, I believe he did so in good faith and inadvertently and I am not recommending any form of penalty, nor am I recommending any remedial measures or corrective actions to be put in place.

51:45So, Mr. Mayor, members of council, that is my report. Again, it speaks for itself, but I will take any questions that any members or you, Mr. Mayor, may have.