Wascana Village controversy leads to proposed conflict of interest changes

The Saskatchewan government is hoping to make changes to the conflict of interest rules for municipal governments.

The proposed amendments are being introduced following the controversial Wascana Village proposal.

The RM of Sherwood wanted to develop the community of 14,000 people. One of the issues was the fact Kevin Eberle, former reeve of the RM, owned some of the land on which the village was to be built.

In February, an inquiry report by Queen's Bench Justice Ron Barclay was released to the public. It found serious conflicts of interest and violations of public trust in connection with the Wascana Village proposal.

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The provincial government removed Eberle as reeve following the report.

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Now, based on Justice Barclay's report, Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter said his government is proposing new changes.

"These legislative changes will not only provide clearer direction and guidance for elected officials, but will strengthen measures to deter and deal with conflicts of interest at the local level," Reiter said in a news release. "By working closely with our municipal partners, we are establishing a new era of transparency, accountability and openness for our municipal elected officials."

The proposed changes include:

• Requiring more information from a member of council when declaring a conflict of interest situation.
• Mandatory public disclosure statements for all elected officials on council detailing their financial interests and any employment and other involvement that may be seen to affect the member's impartiality.
• Mandatory adoption by all municipal councils of a code of ethics that includes a model code of ethics that will be developed in consultation with municipal partners.
• Clearer definitions of what constitutes a conflict of interest, a private interest and the inappropriate use of office and influence consistent with provisions in place for members of the Legislative Assembly.
• The provincial ombudsman will be able to investigate alleged conflict of interest or code of ethics breaches at the municipal level including any breaches of council procedure/administration.

Reiter said several organizations helped develop the reforms, including the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and New North.

"SUMA supports accountability in municipal governance and transparency to protect the interests of local taxpayers, and these new conflict of interest rules reflect the collaboration with our partners at the province and at SARM," SUMA President Debra Button said. "We look forward to the consultations on the upcoming regulations to ensure transparency and integrity standards for all orders of government."