Council Staff Relations Policy

This policy is to guide the nature of professional business interactions between Members of Council and Staff and provide a framework for that relationship.

1. This policy applies to Members of Council and all Town Staff.
2. This policy shall be applied wherever and whenever interactions occur between Council and staff, including on site or offsite, as well as during and outside regular business hours, and via all channels including in person, in electronic meetings, and via written correspondence, email, messaging tools and texting.

• Municipal Governance Excellence
• Open and Clear Communication
• Equality and Transparency 
• Respectful Workplace

CAO: shall mean the Chief Administrative Officer as appointed by Council of the Corporation pursuant to Section 229 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to exercise general control and management of the affairs of the municipality for the purpose of ensuring the efficient and effective operation of the municipality, and further as defined in the CAO Roles & Responsibilities By-law as approved by Council. 

Clerk: shall mean the person appointed by Council pursuant to Section 228 of the Municipal Act, 2001. 

Code of Conduct: shall mean the relevant Code of Conduct in effect as approved by Council for Council and Local Boards or Staff of the Town of Collingwood. 

Council: shall mean the body responsible for the governance of the Municipality, made up of the elected Members of Council. 

Department Head: shall mean all staff at the Director and Executive Director level or designate (acting in the absence of the above), who report directly to the CAO, and may include the Chief Executive Officer of the Library in addition to their general responsibilities in accordance with the Public Libraries Act, and responsibilities to the Collingwood Public Library Board. 

Non-routine Matter: shall mean a communication by a Member of Council with Staff (in person, in writing, by phone, by text, or other electronic means) that is not typically undertaken in the ordinary course of business, requires additional resources or staff capacity, and/or not a matter that can be provided through Service Collingwood. 

Mayor: shall mean the head of Council pursuant to Section 225 of the Municipal Act, 2001. The Deputy Mayor acts as head of Council in the absence of the Mayor or as otherwise provided in accordance with the procedural by-law or other relevant policies.

Member: shall mean any Member of Council including the Mayor, Deputy Mayor or Councillors. 

Routine Matter: shall mean a communication by a Member of Council with Staff (in person, in writing, by phone, by text, or other electronic means) which requires no expenditure of unbudgeted resources, and: (a) in the ordinary course of business constitutes a type of communication that would normally occur between a member of the public and Staff; (b) constitutes a request for information that is routinely produced by Staff in the course of their duties; or, (c) constitutes a request for a service that is routinely done by Staff in the course of their duties.

Service Collingwood: shall mean the centralized customer service team that falls within Customer & Corporate Services. 

Staff: shall mean all persons employed by the Municipality, including Officers, full-time, part-time, seasonal, and contract workers of the Town. 
Town: shall mean the Corporation of the Town of Collingwood.

Although the roles of Council and Staff are distinct, they are interdependent, with each one requiring the other to fulfill the Town's mandate and purpose.

Joint Roles of Council Members and Staff:

• Demonstrate commitment to accountability and transparency; 
• Demonstrate leadership by making sound decisions based on knowledge, expert advice and sound judgment; 
• Maintain confidentiality in all matters where information is protected under law and/or during the course of business, as prescribed in the Municipal Act;
• Uphold decisions of Council as a whole, regardless of personal opinion or belief
   

Role of Council Members (Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors):

Council’s role is set out in the Municipal Act. This includes:

• Representative
• Policy-maker 
• Steward[1] 

Role of Town Staff: 

The role of Town staff is to provide professional advice, support, and recommendations to Council collectively and to implement Council decisions in keeping with legislation, Town policy and procedures and to support Council’s vision for the community.

1. Council as a whole through their formal Resolution has the authority to direct via the CAO that Staff to carry out specific tasks or functions.
2. Staff are responsible to their direct supervisor and CAO as established in the formal organizational structure of the Town.
3. The Mayor shall provide leadership to the Council that is consistent with this and other Council approved policies. Members of Council may bring matters directly to the CAO, however, Members are also encouraged to bring matters to the Mayor’s attention that may be referred to the CAO for advice and input as an opportunity to build and maintain mutual respect for the role of the Office of Mayor.
4. Staff will endeavour to ensure that Members are copied on routine and non-routine matters that are relevant and impactful to all Members that could quickly address a similar or future inquiry of Members or be a trend in the community, and in particularly where information relates to an upcoming Council decision. Staff may summarize and anonymize the matter (due to privacy, sensitivity, etc.) to provide to Council either directly or through the CAO.  
5. Matters requiring Council direction will be referred to an appropriate Committee/Council meeting.

1. Staff will address Members of Council using the appropriate title (e.g., Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Councillor, Chair, etc.) in all business interactions.
2. Appointments, with reasonable advance notice and information regarding the topic, should be made for meetings between the CAO and/or Department Head and a Member/Members of Council. It shall be the CAO / Department Head discretion to invite other necessary or relevant staff, subject to consent by the Council member(s). Similarly, appropriate notice is required for an information request of staff to support the Mayor or a Council member for meeting with the public or stakeholders where staff will not be in attendance and/or a media request (e.g. speaking notes, statistics, background information, file summary/history, etc.).
3. If a Member of Council requests information or a service that is available to the public, the information or service shall be provided in the same manner as it would be to the public in accordance with the Customer Service Standards Policy.
4. Council could support Staff in meeting Council’s expectations by:
   1. Adopting policies in an open and consistent manner that complement and reinforce efforts to improve administrative operations and advancement of the Community Based Strategic Plan and other relevant Master Plans. 
   2. Consulting with Staff before deciding on policies, services and programs.
   3. Being aware of the range of duties and responsibilities of Staff.
   4. Limiting requests for staff responses or reports where they are not likely to advocate for a change, or where the change could wait for the annual budget or work planning processes.
5. Staff shall support Council by:
   1. Providing agendas including information and analysis to inform Council Members when they are making decisions.
   2. Notifying Council of changes to legislation and regulations that have relevance to normal municipal Council business.
   3. Notifying Council of any unintended and unexpected impacts of policy decisions.
   4. Implementing Council decisions effectively and professionally.
   5. Treating Council respectfully and considerately, including making good use of their time.
   6. Ensuring that information of interest to all of council is forwarded to everyone, where appropriate.
6. Treating each other respectfully and considerately, including only forwarding correspondence that does not contain disparaging remarks about Members or Staff, particularly if names or positions are used.

Refer to Appendix A re: Political Records & Information sharing; examples and procedures are included in Appendix B.

Council Member Requests for Staff for Routine Matters:

1. When asking questions on behalf of the Council Member, as a resident or for a constituent: shall be referred to Service Collingwood for appropriate tracking, unless it is otherwise publicly posted that a department lead is the contact for the specific matter. Service Collingwood will reply directly to the individual(s) making requests/inquiries and those originally copied for routine matters.
2. Matters that require a response that would not be available through Service Collingwood (such as professional technical information or policy intentions) shall be directed to the CAO or CAO and respective Department Head.
3. When attending a meeting on behalf of the Council Member or a constituent or with a constituent: Where it is necessary to do so to provide an appropriate level of customer service to a member of the public, the Council Member may attend a public counter or provide an introduction to Staff normally accessible to members of the public – by contacting the applicable department to arrange a time/meeting is recommended to ensure the appropriate staff are available to assist.  In so doing, the Council Member should not interfere with Staff nor attempt to influence an outcome. Staff should ensure that that their Director (and Manager) are aware of the meeting.  

Member of Council requests to Staff for Non-Routine Matters:

1. Requests shall be directed to the CAO or the Department Head and copied to the CAO.

   Questions and clarification relating to Committee or Council matters including agenda items are encouraged to be provided to Staff in advance of meetings and should be referred to the CAO, or CAO and respective Department Head.

   Responses may not be available prior to the meeting. If responses are provided in writing, they will be copied to all Council members. For public transparency, staff shall also ensure that this information is summarized and presented at a Council meeting.

   Questions or information requested that require additional staff capacity will require direction from Council via resolution and if supported will be referred back to staff for completion.  

2. Non-routine requests from a Member of Council on their own behalf or on behalf of the public not related to a specific Council matter being considered, may require the direction of Council for the allocation of resources (such as via a Notice of Motion from the Member), or a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request if related to a record of the Town. These requests should be directed to Clerk Services.
3. Members must exercise extreme caution when dealing with inspection or enforcement matters. Members cannot supply evidence indirectly.  Constituents should be guided to deal directly with inspection or enforcement Staff without intervention. Members of Council may wish to be copied on emails, which is subject to the consent provided from the impacted parties. Members must not obstruct, interfere, or otherwise attempt to influence Staff performing inspection or enforcement functions, including attempting to discourage the filing of a charge. Inspection and enforcement issues that require escalation should be directed to the CAO and Department Head or directly to the CAO as may be required.
4. Council shall be cognizant of frequent and ongoing requests for information that impact Staff resources to conduct their daily duties and that is not readily available to the public. Members are encouraged to ensure that the requests are clear, succinct and needed. Various requests for records not readily available may be referred to the access to information request (FOI) process.
    

Staff will spend time on significant projects only once direction is given by Council to do so.

Emergency responses after hours are available from emergency services (911) and there is also an emergency option after hours via the Town’s central phone number (705 445 1030) and online Service Collingwood portal.  In the case of a potential Town-wide declaration of Emergency, refer to the Emergency Plan.

Responses to non-emergency questions or requests for action will be taken by staff within regular administrative business hours in accordance with the disconnect from work requirements. Emergency items should be flagged or marked as “high priority”/"urgent" in the subject line when sent.

In the interest of strengthening staff and Council relationships both staff and Council are encouraged to consider informal discussions and/or mediation prior to submitting of a formal complaint.

The Clerk shall be responsible for receiving complaints and/or concerns related to this Policy. Upon receipt of a complaint and/or concern, the Clerk shall notify:

• The CAO and Executive Director in the case of Staff; or,
• The Integrity Commissioner in the case of a Member of Council.

Complaints shall be handled in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct or applicable policy.

This Protocol shall be read and applied in conjunction with all applicable corporate documents, including the following, as updated from time to time:

• Municipal Act, 2001
• Procedural By-Law No. 2021-090
• Policy D-01: HR-SOP-2022-02 – Discrimination, Violence and Harassment Free Workplace Policy
• Policy A09-A1301: Accountability and Transparency
• Code of Conducts - Members of Council/Local Boards & Staff
• HR Policy E-15: Disconnect from Work
• Customer Service Policy / Customer Service Standards 

Guidance Documents: 

• Political Records of a Council Member and Information Sharing
• Examples of applying this policy with scenarios