Vancouver mayor's conduct complaint against city councillor approved

ABC Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and OneCity Councillor Christine Boyle. (ABC Vancouver | City of Vancouver)

Tensions between Vancouver’s elected municipal politicians and accusations of wrongdoing have been spilling out into formal complaints to the City’s integrity commissioner in recent months.

The most recent complaint was made by ABC Mayor Ken Sim against OneCity councillor Christine Boyle on August 25, with integrity commissioner Lisa Southern ruling on October 3 that Boyle violated the municipality’s Code of Conduct.

This relates to a social media post on X and email that targeted the Mayors’ Office’s newly hired communications manager, Harrison Fleming, “accusing him directly of past bullying [in his previous roles] and implying that he has advanced and is complicit in anti-LGBTQ+ government policies, despite the staff member identifying as a gay man. Additionally, Councillor Boyle retweeted that he is personally under investigation by the RCMP in connection to a corruption scandal in Ontario.”

Southern states Boyle’s written response to the complaint acknowledged “some of my comments crossed a line, and I would like to convey my regret and apologies.” On September 8, Boyle posted a public apology on X.

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“As a public official, I have a duty to uphold a high standard of respect and decorum. In August, I failed to do so when discussing the hiring of the Mayor’s newest team member, Harrison Fleming. On reflection, certain parts of my comments crossed a line. Where we disagree, we owe it to each other to disagree respectfully. I apologise to him and retract my statements,” wrote Boyle.

While Southern ruled Boyle breached a section of the Code of Conduct, she was not sanctioned as she took proactive actions to “remedy her conduct,” including the public apology on X, and had apologized directly to Fleming.

In August I crossed a line with respect to how I communicated about one of the Mayor’s new staff members. I apologize for my comments. Please see my statement below. pic.twitter.com/wQLBNsSWsP

— Christine Boyle (@christineeboyle) September 8, 2023

But just a week earlier, on September 29, Southern made another decision on a separate conduct complaint by Sim against Boyle, dating back to March 7, relating to Vancouver City Council’s January in-camera (private) meeting that culminated with the decision to end the City’s Living Wage policy for municipal employees.

On March 2, the municipal government released its decision to revise the Living Wage policy, at which Boyle also issued a media statement through OneCity Vancouver’s communication channels, including a newsletter email, sharing she voted against the motion decided behind closed doors and strongly supported the policy.

In his complaint, Sim accused Boyle of breaking the confidentiality requirement under the Code of Conduct. In her written response to Southern, Boyle argued there is no bylaw, policy, or direction that city councillors could not, or in the case of the Living Wage policy, specifically say how they voted in camera.

Southern sided with Boyle, stating she did not break the Code of Conduct.

“There is no common law or statutory rule about whether one can discuss how one votes at an in camera Council meeting and the City’s Procedural Bylaw is silent on this issue,” wrote Southern.

But Southern adds the municipal government’s policies are unclear and inconsistent when it comes to whether how a councillor votes in camera can be disclosed by the councillor after the City makes the decision public. She recommends the City adopt a clear policy that clarifies expectations for such future scenarios.

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