B.C. ombudsperson warns of weak oversight of municipal integrity and ethics

British Columbia’s ombudsperson says the province needs a law to ensure effective oversight of integrity and ethics at city councils, emphasizing it’s something almost every other Canadian province has in place.In a letter to provincial Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon, Jay Chalke said recent events in Vancouver, where the dominant ABC Vancouver party tried last summer to temporarily suspend the work of the city’s integrity commissioner as she was about to issue an unflattering report about the behaviour of Mayor Ken Sim’s office staff, showed the need for an actual law to prevent municipal misconduct.