Council rejects IC’s delegation restriction recommendation

October 9, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

At the October 7 General Committee Meeting, a staff report on the procedure by-law proposed repeal and replacement was presented, with consideration of the Integrity Commissioner’s recommendations added.

In June 2023, the Council directed staff to conduct a comprehensive Procedure By-law review and approved a four-stage work plan in March 2024 to complete the review.

Following the September 23 meeting, David Boghosian, Integrity Commissioner for the Town of Caledon, submitted a recommendation “that an exception be added to the provision dealing with delegations to remove the right to delegate in respect of IC Report agenda items,” regarding the Town’s upcoming Procedural By-law review.

At the September 23 meeting, seven community members delegated to discuss Integrity Commissioner Reports brought forward regarding Code of Conduct Complaints against Councillor Dave Sheen.

In Boghosian’s recommendation, he stated that “delegations are of no relevance to IC Report agenda items as there is no decision-making process involved on the part of Council for delegates to influence.”

He shared that delegations “add an unnecessary and quite frankly harmful political element to the Code of Conduct process when the decision-making that goes into IC Reports is, and should be regarded as, apolitical, based solely on the application of legal standards.”

Boghosian said that delegations that speak to the underlying subject matter of the report “not only undermines the objective nature of an IC Report but fosters community disrespect for the IC process as it creates the impression that there is some political motive or basis for the IC’s conclusions.”

He also speaks to the amount of time that delegations take up in his recommendation.

Seven delegates spoke to the issue at the General Committee meeting.

Many spoke to issues of freedom of speech, democracy, and the importance of the delegation process.

Past Caledon Councillor Barb Shaughnessy, who served for four years, was one of the delegates.

She shared that during her time on Council, hearing delegations was the best part of her elected experience.

“Delegates are valuable resources for us as Councillors. They’re well informed, have expertise, and usually find the time to do the deep dive that most Councillors just don’t have the time to do, and until you hear from citizens, you do not have all the information needed to make a qualified decision.”

Sherry Brioschi, a member of the Governance Review Committee, shared that although she would like to see the motion voted down, she would also like to see it referred to the Governance Review.

“Because we are now in the works of creating a guideline of many things for an education perspective, not only for Council, but us,” says Brioschi.

Councillor Mario Russo brought forward a motion that the proposed exclusion of delegations related to the Integrity Commissioner investigation findings and recommendations be referred to the Municipal Clerk for further research, and a staff recommendation based on research findings for a report be brought back in the first quarter of 2026.

Following the Clerk’s, it would then be reviewed by the Governance Review Committee.

“At no point do I even want to entertain potentially excluding delegations, but there was a lot of claims, and there’s a lot of information that’s missing here,” added Councillor Russo regarding the motion. “We’re not jumping to conclusions. We’re not excluding anyone. We’re making an informed decision before we actually exclude or include.”

Mayor Annette Groves shared that a referral allows them to have clarity and understand the multiple aspects involved.

“A referral is to either allow more time, to allow for clarity, to allow for additional information, certainly not a vote to squash anything,” says Mayor Groves.

Two motions were also brought forward: one by Councillor Lynn Kiernan, supported by Councillor Dave Sheen, prior to the meeting, and one by Councillor Christina Early during the meeting, both of which aimed to refuse the recommendation by the Integrity Commissioner.

Councillor Early said they should be priding themselves on the high level of delegations that they have from the public, and that they can learn a lot from those delegations.

“Hearing from delegates is part of the Code of Conduct process, so why would we bury it in a procedural by-law?” said Councillor Sheen.

“Let’s make the right decision today, and that is to deny what the IC has recommended. We are not bound to his recommendations. We’re bound to the people in this room. We’re bound to the people of Caledon,” said Councillor Kiernan.

According to the procedure shared by the Clerks, the motion to refer must be handled before other motions.

Councillor Tony Rosa shared he would also not support the referral as he did not feel it was warranted.

Councillor Nick de Boer also shared that he would not support the motion and that it should be separated from the procedure by-law and allow delegations.

Councillor Doug Maskell also opposed the motion for referral.

The vote ended 6-3, with Councillors Maskell, de Boer, Rosa, Kiernan, Sheen, and Early opposed, and Councillors Russo, Napoli and Mayor Groves in favour.

The motion was then carried unanimously to refuse the Integrity Commissioner’s recommendation.