BANFF – The Town of Banff plans to hire an independent expert to investigate future complaints against elected officials.
At a governance and finance committee meeting on Monday (March 28), administration was directed to seek a request for proposals to obtain services from a third-party individual or company experienced in mediation and complaint adjudication to carry out the duties of investigator.
During more than two hours of debate and discussion on the issue, Councillor Chip Olver said she wants to see complaints against elected officials go to a third-party investigator, which is in line with the Town of Canmore’s model.
“I believe it’s appropriate to go to an investigator first and not to have a complaint about the code of conduct for elected officials go through an administrator or go through council,” said Coun. Olver, who is Banff's longest serving councillor, having been elected in 1994.
“It separates administration completely from the process and council completely from the process and goes to a professional who is guided by their own code of ethics and their own code of conduct. I think those are important things in terms of confidence in the process.”
Banff’s council code of conduct bylaw has been in place for about a year-and-a-half.
During that time, one formal conflict of interest complaint was levelled against former town councillor Peter Poole in July 2021 for his involvement in discussions on the area redevelopment plan for the train station lands and proposed aerial gondola from the townsite to Mount Norquay. Poole is the owner of a local nearby hotel on the lower slopes of Mount Norquay.
Council made various decisions relating to this complaint by Mount Norquay owner and Liricon partner Adam Waterous, but ultimately unanimously dismissed the complaint in its entirety because there were insufficient grounds for the matter to be investigated.
Prior to the council code of conduct coming into effect, allegations were levelled against former mayor Karen Sorensen.
Although she had previously publicly declared a conflict of interest, the allegations were related to her husband Carsten Sorensen’s company, which had been one of the brokers providing a benefits package to the Town of Banff since 2005. She was also director and co-owner.
However, the RCMP and an investigation by an independent investigator contracted by the Town of Banff cleared Sorensen, who is now a Canadian senator, of any wrongdoing. The allegations were made by residents Jamie MacVicar and Barry Kelly.
Following the two investigations into Poole and Sorensen, council highlighted a need for further clarity around investigation and other processes related to allegations of misconduct by elected officials.
In addition, Kelly, one of the complainants against Sorensen who is a long-time resident and former high-ranking RCMP officer, called for greater accountability and asked council to create a public ethics committee.
Last September, council directed administration to explore the merits of an independent ethics committee, an ethics commissioner or a request for Banff’s inclusion in the provincial ombudsman’s oversight.
Administration did not recommend an ethics committee or an ethics commissioner at this time, arguing both options require significant additional investigation.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said council has experienced the pros and cons of two different investigative systems based on the two formal complaints since 2020.
But she said she is interested in trying the independent investigator approach, noting council can change direction in future if needed.
“The part that’s most appealing is it just takes council out of the process and puts it into a realm of this professional having expertise in this area,” said Mayor DiManno, adding she is, however, wary of the potential costs.
“I do like the idea if we’re trying to get the most unbiased result here, and if we’re talking about things being fair and transparent, I think completely taking it out of council’s hands is a way that we could achieve those goals.”
There is no specific budget for an independent investigator at this time, but it’s anticipated it would be funded through council’s general legal budget.
“As reference, for the 2020 complaint, the investigative costs, including the investigator’s fees, were $12,550,” said Libbey McDougall, the Town of Banff’s municipal clerk.
During Monday’s governance and finance committee meeting, Kelly said an independent investigator was not an option in the original motion.
Kelly said he did not agree with this as an ethics solution.
“I think council is fully aware of the hourly rate of an investigator/mediator,” he said in a letter to council. “It is prohibitive and should only be considered as the final option at the end of a complex complaint.”
Kelly argued an ethics committee made up of public members was a better way to go.
“With the ability to register an anonymous complaint to an independent committee with its majority being public members, you will see an increase of various kinds of ethic complaints,” he said.
“This will improve transparency and will also improve the communities level of trust in the local political process.”
Kelly said the simplicity of an unpaid ethics committee made up of Banff residents allows for a relatively quick start-up once administration lays the groundwork.
“We are dealing with an advisory committee that receives, reviews and conducts a cursory investigation on all incoming ethics complaints – anonymous or otherwise,” he said.
“Once the intake process is completed the committee meets and agrees on a course of action and forwards it to council as necessary… council makes the final call on any complaint.”
Councillors Hugh Pettigrew, Ted Christensen and Kaylee Ram supported the hiring of an independent investigator as an interim solution, allowing time for the option of an ethics committee to be considered.
They wanted administration to return at 2023 service review later this year with information on costs, required staff, terms of reference and funding sources to create an independent ethics committee. However, they failed to get support from the other four members of council.
Coun. Grant Canning said there could still be perceptions of bias of members of a public committee, noting Banff is a small town.
“I think there will always be a perception of bias one way or the other, depending on the decision and the discussion,” he said.
“Giving this to an independent investigator professional who is trained in this is as independent as we could possibly manage.”
Councillors Pettigrew and Christensen also lost their argument for council to have a say or vote in choosing the independent investigator to be put on retainer.
“This is not to gain control over what the investigator will choose, but it’s to separate the influence that administration has on council and is sometimes seen as an imbalance in the community,” said Coun. Christensen. “I think that council and the community need to have a voice in choosing who is investigating council complaints.”
Meanwhile, Town of Banff administration will continue discussions with Alberta’s Office of the Ombudsman about including the Town of Banff within its jurisdiction.
Since 2018, the provincial ombudsman has had authority to investigate municipalities on matters of administration, not policy decisions made by elected officials. However, it currently does not legally apply to Banff because of the incorporation agreement with the federal government.
