Grey County will appoint an integrity commissioner for a five-year term, beginning January 1, 2018.

The role of an integrity commissioner is to investigate complaints involving conflict of interest and the Council Code of Conduct and oversee the ethical behaviour of members of council and other boards and committees.

Grey County sought proposals from qualified organizations earlier this year. Principles Integrity was endorsed by Committee of the Whole at the November 23 meeting.

Principles Integrity provides a wealth of knowledge from both a legal perspective and municipal view. Jeff Abrams serves as a municipal Clerk for the City of Vaughan and Janice Atwood-Petkovski worked as the City Solicitor for the cities of Vaughan and Hamilton. Principle Integrity is also the integrity commissioner for the City of Mississauga and the County of Simcoe.

Principles Integrity proposes to educate councillors, staff and the public on the code of conduct and complaint process while strengthening values of accountability and transparency. Grey County's nine local municipalities will also have the opportunity to retain Principles Integrity at an annual cost of $1,000 plus additional fees for any investigations or other consultation and training.

A full report and by-law is available on www.Grey.ca as part of the November 23 Committee of the Whole agenda. The decision still needs to be endorsed at the next Grey County Council meeting on December 14.

Bill 68 Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 requires all municipalities in Ontario to have an integrity commissioner by March 1, 2019.

source: media release, Grey County