WHEREAS Section 90 of BCs Community Charter, Meetings that may or must be closed to the public, establishes that certain meetings of council must be closed to the public; AND WHEREAS there are important public policy reasons why some matters dealt with by council must be dealt with in a closed meeting as required by the Charter; AND WHEREAS a breach of confidentiality by the mayor or another member of council constitutes a breach of not only his or her oath, but also a very serious potential risk to the right of privacy of individuals, to the outcome of police or other enforcement investigations, to the safety of the public, to equitable contractual relationships, to fair collective bargaining, to just treatment of employees, to the financial health of the city and its taxpayers, and to the capacity of council to conduct the work of the city; AND WHEREAS Section 117 of the Community Charter, Duty to respect confidentiality, requires that the mayor and other members of council must keep in confidence any confidential record, or the proceedings of any council meeting that was lawfully closed to the public; AND WHEREAS there appears to be no penalty for the mayor or a member of council who deliberately breaches his or her duty to respect confidentiality, except under Community Charter 117 2, which establishes only a financial penalty in matching the amount of the loss or damages suffered by the local government as a result of the breach of confidentiality: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government develop explanatory materials and guidelines to complement Section 117 of the Community Charter and parallel sections of the Vancouver Charter, in the interest of providing elected officials with a better understanding of the duty to respect confidentiality; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that additional penalties aside from those set out in Section 117 of the Charter be considered for deliberate breach of confidentiality, including potential disqualification from office.
Ministry of Community Services The Ministry of Community Services will develop explanatory materials and guidelines in relation to the duty of local government elected officials to respect confidentiality. It will also work with the Local Government Leadership Academy to include information about this issue in its curriculum. There are varying opinions about matters that should be kept confidential. In some instances, a breach of this requirement may have negative impacts on a local government. However, the actions of a whistle-blower may bring to public attention an issue that may have been wrongly considered to be confidential. A full review of this issue needs to be undertaken before any commitment can be made to change the legislation.