Town of Cochrane Coun. Marni Fedeyko’s motion to investigate the possibility of creating a third-party whistleblower program and policy was unanimously approved at the regular council meeting Jan. 8.
Council directed administration to come back with a draft policy for further discussion by the end of June.
"My reason for bringing this forward is not that there's been any wrongdoing or anything like that, but as a person who believes in accountability and transparency, I believe that this is kind of the next steps that council could possibly consider because it keeps everybody safe, including residents, employees and council."
The goal would be to provide a confidential place for people to report concerns of suspected waste or wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.
She stressed that she wasn’t bringing her motion forward in response to any particular examples of wrongdoing, but rather, it was in the interest of promoting transparency and accountability while ensuring people who do come forward are protected.
Executive Director, Protective & Community Services Stacey Loe said that whistleblower policies are becoming more and more common in other jurisdictions.
In general, Fedeyko said she hoped a policy would outline the type of conduct that should be reported, provide protection for whistleblowers from intimidation and retaliation, and include an updated version of a code of conduct for employees and council.
Coun. Alex Reed cited an example of some behaviour he had heard about that highlights the need for such a policy.
"I'm aware of at least one member of town council who approached a town employee as a friend trying to secure information about senior administration," said Reed. "The staff member characterized that approach as unsolicited, unwelcomed and unprofessional, bordering on harassment."
He also pointed to the recent dismissal of Chestermere's mayor, several town councillors and all three of its chief administrative officers by Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver as an example of where a new policy might help.
"What's less known about that story is that there are actually 62 good staff members who left that organization because there was no policy there to protect them against organizational harassment from councillors or members of council who had hidden agendas and were constantly meddling in the affairs of administration. So, I'm glad that have this policy come forward that will protect those staff in that situation."
Some questions were raised over the cost, and whether its reproducing to what's already accessible through the office of the Alberta Ombudsman.
Fedeyko said there are limitations to the Ombudsman's office.
"That has to be a decision that's been made," she said. "You can't just take a complaint to their office. It actually has to be a complaint that has a finalized decision to it before they step in to investigate."
The province has its own whistleblowing protection policy governing government officials.
