Whereas Section 1257 of the Community Charter and Section 2042 of the Local Government Act exempt elected officials from disqualification due to absences of 60 consecutive days or 4 consecutive regular scheduled board or council meetings, if the absence is due to illness or injury or is with the leave of the council or board, but does not provide an exemption for new parents; And whereas it is recognized that it is important for new parents to have adequate time and energy to spend with their child: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM lobby the provincial government to give its urgent attention to the matter of amending the Community Charter and Local Government Act, to include parental leave provisions that would grant elected officials who are new parents an exemption from being disqualified from office for absences of 60 consecutive days or 4 consecutive regular scheduled council or board meetings.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs The province recognizes that parental leave is an important action to support gender inclusion and diversity in local governments and has been actively monitoring the issue for several years now. In previous responses to similar resolutions in 2016 2016-B99 and 2021 2021-NR1, the province has noted the complex policy considerations in relation to establishing provincially legislated statutory minimum maternity and parental leave for local elected officials. These considerations include the existing legal and policy rules around employee leave; whether elected officials can be considered employees under the Employee Standards Act for these purposes, and other implications that could flow from elected officials being considered employees given their collective status as councils and boards as Employers. Under the existing legislation, local governments have full authority to grant leave for a wide variety of reasons to elected officials seeking this option. This authority includes the establishment of policies for such leave including handling of appointments such as to boards and committees, and other duties during the leave and upon return. Furthermore, council members who have received approval for their absence from council attendance will not be at risk of disqualification for non-attendance at council meetings. The existing authority allows individual communities to design leave policies that reflect considerations for their unique circumstances for various types of leave. The province continues to observe an increase in the number of local governments that have adopted their own specific policies to allow elected officials to go on maternity or parental leave. The province will continue to favour an approach that allows individual communities to determine policies related to various types of leave under existing local government legislation, just as local governments determine remuneration and other benefits for local elected officials. Local governments are best placed to continue to develop policies that best account for circumstances in their communities.