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The mayor of New Westminster will have to undergo training after the city's ethics commissioner found that his trip to Dubai last year for a climate conference violated the city's code of conduct.
Ethics Commissioner Jennifer Devins appeared before the council Monday to deliver her report on the trip and to make her recommendation on how the council should respond.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone took part in the Local Climate Action Summit late last year as part of the COP28 UN climate change conference. The trip was fully funded by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of mayors committed to fighting climate change.
Devins concluded that parts of the trip, including flights, accommodations and meals, constituted a “personal gift” to the mayor. However, she also noted that Johnstone took steps to investigate whether the trip provided any benefits to the city and acted immediately to obtain advice on his return.
“The mayor violated the Community Charter out of negligence and an error of good faith judgment,” she concluded, recommending that he receive training on his requirements under the Community Charter.
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The council voted to accept that recommendation, but not before two council members tried unsuccessfully to have Johnstone face additional sanction.
Count. Daniel Fontaine, one of two council members who filed the first ethics complaint, said Johnstone should be required to donate $5,000 to the charity organization Don't Go Hungry to receive some of the personal benefit he received during the trip to make amends.
Fontaine added that he was disappointed that Johnstone had not yet made any public apology for the incident.
“It would have been a nice message to the public: 'I understand, I made a mistake and I'm willing to pay back,'” Fontaine said.
“If the public finds out that as of today there is still no apology and there was no interest on the part of the council to have the mayor repay some of the personal benefit he received, I think the public will be that will be disappointed. .”
For his part, Johnstone took to Facebook after the meeting, where he apologized.
“Not happy that it was about me, but happy that our Code of Conduct process works, and that #NewWest The Council takes the work of an Ethics Commissioner seriously,” Johnstone wrote.
“I take responsibility and apologize for the error of judgment and appreciate the European Commission's ruling.”
Tasha Henderson, one of the council members who supported the training recommendation, agreed an apology was appropriate.
She said it was understandable that people struggling with the cost of living questioned whether traveling to attend conferences benefited the city, but that the mayor was motivated to further the city's work on climate action .
“I think it's a great honor and it speaks to the work we do,” she said.
“The mayor was able to put $100,000 back into further youth climate action, to develop a youth climate action team, to bring senior staff working on climate to speak to some of the people who are at the forefront of this work all over the world. the whole world, so I think there's a huge benefit.
She added that all members of the council would benefit from additional training to ensure similar incidents do not occur in the future.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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