Sudbury's integrity commissioner finds two councillors broke code of conduct rules

Sudbury's integrity commissioner is reprimanding two Sudbury city councillors in connection with comments they made on social media that were critical of city staff.

David Boghosian investigated two complaints, one that was later withdrawn, about comments made in June by councillors Mike Parent and Natalie Labbée on the Facebook site, Our Valley East Communities.  

His report is included in the agenda for next week's council meeting.

He found both councillors crossed the line when it came to publicly criticizing staff for not highlighting a controversial five dollar gate fee in the city's budget, before it was passed.

Parent wrote on the site that he planned to raise a motion to suspend the fee and that he felt it was "slipped" into a line item in the budget.

In comments responding to Parent's post, Labbée wrote that "it's just one more example of how Staff conveniently forgot to inform Council" and questioned when council was going to receive "ALL the information we need to know instead of just bits and pieces."

She also said she does not trust city staff.

In his report, Boghosian, found that Parent's comments "eroded the authority of council" by suggesting the landfill gate fee was "slipped" into the budget.

He says despite not identifying any specific member of city staff, Parent's comment implied sneaky, underhanded behaviour

As for Labbée, Boghosian found her criticism more directed and said her comments violate the city's social media policy and code of conduct.

Labbée maintained that staff did not inform council of the proposed gate fee, however Boghosian found it was mentioned in a November 23, 2023 Question and Answer document and he called Labbée's comments were misleading.

Boghosian has investigated both councillors before.

"In my opinion, this is the second complaint in a row that I have investigated involving Cllr's Labbée and Parent, where it appears that while Cllr Parent has skirted close to the line of proper v. improper conduct and perhaps a little over it, Cllr Labbée seems to be unaware of where that line is at all." wrote Boghosian in his report.

While Boghosian said he agrees with both councillors that the manner in which the landfill gate fee was introduced into the budget was inappropriate given it was the subject of a 2022 business case that was deferred, and that it should have been flagged when it was contained in an updated business case, it doesn't excuse the councillors' breaches of the code of conduct.

He is recommending no penalty for Parent, but given this is Labbée's second breach, he is suggesting a penalty of a five day suspension of pay.

Councillors will weigh in on the reports and recommended sanctions at their next meeting, November 11, 2024.