The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has slammed Vancouver mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Party over a proposal to suspend Integrity Commissioner Lisa Southern in order to conduct a third-party review of the scope of her office's work. Sim had expressed support for the motion, however during a city council meeting on Tuesday, he moved to defer a vote on the matter until September 25, after councilors return from their summer break. If passed, it will temporarily freeze Southern's current investigations and prevent her from taking up new ones until the review has been conducted."Taxpayers in Vancouver need more accountability from our politicians – not less," Canadian Taxpayers Federation BC Director Carson Binda said in a news release. "What are Sim and ABC trying to hide by freezing the work of the integrity commissioner?"He went on to suggest that "freezing the work of the integrity commissioner is democratic backsliding in action," adding, "it’s shameful for the politicians to pull the plug on accountability.""Sim and council need to maintain the integrity commissioner,” Binda concluded. "If Sim and his ABC councilors are worried about the work of the integrity commissioner, they should try harder not to violate their ethical obligations instead of shutting her office down."Among Southern's main tasks is investigating code of conduct complaints filed against city councilors and advisory board members. As of late, members of Sim's staff have been among those targeted.During the meeting, which was boycotted by a number of councilors, Sim took aim at Councilor Pete Fry, accusing him of seeking to derail the motion via "political theatre.""Yesterday Councilor Fry, on a holiday Monday, sent an email to all of council and senior city staff saying that he'd filed a complaint with the integrity commissioner against an unknown number of councilors and potentially myself," a ballcap-clad Sim said. "This is despite the clear guidelines and expectations from the integrity commissioner that complaints remain confidential."Sim argued that Fry's "purposely or recklessly" taken actions had "broken the expected confidentiality of the process," and that as a result, he had "no choice but to recommend a recess of this meeting out of an abundance of caution until this break with established protocol is dealt with.""It is my opinion," he continued, "that these actions demonstrate how an office that is intended to provide an avenue for genuine concerns to be appropriately dealt with is continuing to be politicized.".Among those who shared Fry's concerns was fellow councilor Christine Boyle. In a post on X, she made it clear that "if Mayor Sim or ABC Cllrs know there's a complaint against them with the Integrity Commissioner ... they should not be voting to suspend her work."
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has slammed Vancouver mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Party over a proposal to suspend Integrity Commissioner Lisa Southern in order to conduct a third-party review of the scope of her office's work. Sim had expressed support for the motion, however during a city council meeting on Tuesday, he moved to defer a vote on the matter until September 25, after councilors return from their summer break. If passed, it will temporarily freeze Southern's current investigations and prevent her from taking up new ones until the review has been conducted."Taxpayers in Vancouver need more accountability from our politicians – not less," Canadian Taxpayers Federation BC Director Carson Binda said in a news release. "What are Sim and ABC trying to hide by freezing the work of the integrity commissioner?"He went on to suggest that "freezing the work of the integrity commissioner is democratic backsliding in action," adding, "it’s shameful for the politicians to pull the plug on accountability.""Sim and council need to maintain the integrity commissioner,” Binda concluded. "If Sim and his ABC councilors are worried about the work of the integrity commissioner, they should try harder not to violate their ethical obligations instead of shutting her office down."Among Southern's main tasks is investigating code of conduct complaints filed against city councilors and advisory board members. As of late, members of Sim's staff have been among those targeted.During the meeting, which was boycotted by a number of councilors, Sim took aim at Councilor Pete Fry, accusing him of seeking to derail the motion via "political theatre.""Yesterday Councilor Fry, on a holiday Monday, sent an email to all of council and senior city staff saying that he'd filed a complaint with the integrity commissioner against an unknown number of councilors and potentially myself," a ballcap-clad Sim said. "This is despite the clear guidelines and expectations from the integrity commissioner that complaints remain confidential."Sim argued that Fry's "purposely or recklessly" taken actions had "broken the expected confidentiality of the process," and that as a result, he had "no choice but to recommend a recess of this meeting out of an abundance of caution until this break with established protocol is dealt with.""It is my opinion," he continued, "that these actions demonstrate how an office that is intended to provide an avenue for genuine concerns to be appropriately dealt with is continuing to be politicized.".Among those who shared Fry's concerns was fellow councilor Christine Boyle. In a post on X, she made it clear that "if Mayor Sim or ABC Cllrs know there's a complaint against them with the Integrity Commissioner ... they should not be voting to suspend her work."
