This Monday, November 6, at the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion Council meeting, Councillor Jasmine Sharma submitted a notice of proposal to amend the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Elected Officials of Vaudreuil-Dorion to include specific standards of civility.

Councillor Sharma performed a rigorous reflection exercise before submitting this proposal. " I've been working on this project for several months, she says. I set up a working group made up of municipal councillors from different regions, former elected officials, researchers and a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant. We worked together on solutions to the problem of incivility within our municipal councils. Thanks to the solutions we came up with, I'm proud to table amendments to the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for elected officials in Vaudreuil-Dorion this evening," she explained at the meeting.

The same values for all

Considering that the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion has adopted a Policy on Living Together, as well as a Policy on Prevention, Awareness and Support for Employees in Matters of Violence, including spousal, family or sexual violence, the independent elected official felt that it was only natural that elected officials should demonstrate their willingness to impose the same standards of behavior on themselves as those required of municipal employees, particularly with regard to benevolence, respect and civility.

" As elected officials, we have a duty to set an example, she explains. We have to demonstrate that we are capable of debating our ideas while respecting the people around the table. I believe that adding standards of civility will make it possible to define a precise framework and, above all, to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not."

Sanctions to be determined

Ms. Sharma is calling for a working table to be set up between now and December 2023, comprising the municipal council, the general management, the human resources department and the clerk's office, to begin a process of reflection to specify the measures to be taken in the event of repeated incivility, and to define control and sanction mechanisms.

By the end of June 2024, this working table will have to establish conflict management procedures and the gradation of measures and sanctions when the code of ethics, professional conduct and civility for elected municipal officials is not respected.

Councillor Sharma's proposal will be debated at the November 20 municipal council meeting. In the meantime, Ms. Sharma is continuing to work with the members of her task force to ensure that such changes are proposed to all municipal councils in Quebec.

She will also be sending a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, signed by some thirty elected officials and experts, asking her to look into the marked increase in incivilities within municipal councils.