A document from Town administration states "Councillors are not only directors, but they are also public trustees, and owe fiduciary duties to both their municipal corporation and their communities, specifically they owe duties of good faith, trust, confidence and candor. A key component of being a fiduciary requires councillors to put the interest of the municipality ahead of their personal interest. The code of conduct outlines the needs and procedures."
Councillor Doug Thornton was concerned about a section in the bylaw which refers to the training of a councillor, which is advised to take within 90 days of being elected. He said the new Municipal Government Act will require training, and the wording in this bylaw said the training is written as advised. "I think that we may need to revise schedule A," he said "I don't know what other word could be used there, but I think it needs to be a little stronger than advised." Suggestions came from councillors of changing the word to 'obligated' or 'required'. CAO Laurie Wilgosh said to her knowledge, the government has not yet made it a requirement to take the training, although it is a requirement of the Town to provide training within ninety days.
Mayor Don Anderberg said, "The drawback of putting something into our bylaw to make it mandatory is that we, generally speaking, can't override a higher government statute."
Council voted to pass the motion for first reading and will revisit the bylaw at a later meeting for second and third reading before it is potentially enacted as a bylaw.
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