Ian Stedman (York University)
This presentation builds upon Arbuckle’s “”Held to Account? An Analysis of Political Accountability in Ontario’s Municipal Sector” (2018), which sought to answer the question “Does hiring an integrity commissioner improve political accountability at the municipal level in Ontario?” The presentation will look at legislative action in the municipal political accountability policy area since 2019, including the mandatory requirement of all Ontario municipalities to have a code of conduct as well as access to an integrity commissioner. It will also outline results of the analysis of municipal council decisions related to integrity commissioner investigations and recommendations, as well as comparing 2018 and 2022 municipal election results for elected officials who have been investigated for code of conduct violations. A comparison of similar data from 2014 to 2018 will also be included in the presentation. The presentation will conclude with observations on the relevance of the data to the current municipal political accountability environment.
The names/institutional affiliation of the researcher(s):
David Arbuckle, Executive Director, Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasures of Ontario
Zachary Spicer, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Head of New College, York University
Ian Stedman, Assistant Professor, Canadian Public Law and Governance, York University