Complaints process

As part of their commitment to accountability, the Members of Council have approved a process for investigating and reporting on complaints alleging that they have breached their obligations under the Code of Conduct for Members of Council. This process is set out in the Complaint Procedures which form part of the Code at Appendix B.

Complaints may be filed by the public, staff, a Member of Council or by Council as a whole.

Complaints must generally be made within 60 days after the date of the conduct giving rise to the complaint. The Integrity Commissioner has discretion to accept a complaint after the expiry of this time limit, as outlined in s.5 of the Formal Complaint Procedure.

In a municipal election year, the Integrity Commissioner will not accept any complaints during the campaign period.  The “campaign period” is defined as follows:

  • in a general election begins on May 1 in the year of the election and ends on the start of the new term of Council as defined in Section 18(1) of The City of Winnipeg Charter; and in an election to fill a vacancy, begins on the day when the senior election officer receives the direction from the City Clerk to hold the election and ends on the start of the term as defined in section 18(2) of The City of Winnipeg Charter.

The Integrity Commissioner’s jurisdiction to accept complaints relates only to complaints which are made about the conduct of the sixteen Members of Council.

Complaints about the conduct of city staff must be submitted through a separate process.

The complaints process may take two different routes - an informal complaint or a formal complaint - depending on the nature of the complaint.

Chart showing the the informal and formal complaints process

Informal complaints

Procedure

Individuals are encouraged to use the informal complaint process to address behaviour or activity that they believe  contravenes the Code of Conduct for Members of Council. The informal process involves:

  1. Advising the Member that the behaviour or activity appears to contravene the Code of Conduct;
  2. Encouraging the Member to acknowledge and agree to stop the prohibited behaviour or activity and to avoid future occurrences of the prohibited behaviour or activity;
  3. Requesting the Integrity Commissioner to assist in informal discussion of the alleged complaint with the Member in an attempt to settle or resolve the issue;
  4. If applicable, confirming to the Member your satisfaction with the Member’s response; or, advising the Member of your dissatisfaction with their response.

Formal complaints

Procedure

Individuals who wish to make a formal complaint must do so by filling in the Formal Complaint Form and submitting it by email, fax or mail to:

Office of the Integrity Commissioner
c/o 1000-330 St. Mary’s Avenue
Winnipeg, MB  R3C 3Z5
swalsh@tappercuddy.com
Fax: 204-943-3934

If you require accommodation to submit a complaint, please contact the Integrity Commissioner.

Complaints must be signed by an identifiable individual. No anonymous complaints will be considered.

If a person is not satisfied with the process the Integrity Commissioner has followed, they may bring the matter to the attention of the Manitoba Ombudsman: https://www.ombudsman.mb.ca

The Ombudsman is not, however, an appeal mechanism for reviewing the Integrity Commissioner’s decisions.

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