Ethics advisor and integrity commissioner for city council to get $48K

The city's new ethics advisor and integrity commissioner will each be paid a retainer of $24,000a year for the next two years, plus $200 an hour when their services are required.

Coun.Ward Sutherland saidthe payment for the pair was worked out internally.

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"As far as Iknow, it was from the HR department and what was out there, Ido know that the current rate for lawyers in the downtown area range anywhere from $600 to $900 an hour," he said.

AllenSulatycky, a former MP and Court of Queen's Benchjustice in Alberta,was named as the integrity commissioner.

AliceWoolleywas appointed asethics adviser. She currently serves as associate dean (academic) with the faculty of law at theUniversityof Calgary.

The ethics advisor will help council members with any questions they have on ethics matters while the integrity commissioner will investigate any complaints against city council.

Playing catch up

There will be higher costs in the beginning as the two consult and write new conduct rules, according to Sutherland.

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"We should have had this stuff a long time ago and we're paying for the sins of it now," he said.

"So it's important that these guidelines do get done and then once all this front-load work is done, we're not going to need that kind of expenditure of hours in the near future."

The ethics advisor is holding one-on-one sessions with every council member. The integrity commissioner is developing new code of conduct rules for the politicians as well as establishing an office.

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