Town council has unanimously directed administration to investigate the possibility of creating a third-party whistleblower program and policy.

Councillor Marni Fedeyko brought forward the motion last night (Jan. 8), believing it's establishment will provide a confidential place for people to report concerns of suspected waste, wrongdoing and issues/allegations within council's authority without fear of retaliation.

"My reason for bringing this forward is not that there's been any wrongdoing or anything like that, but as a person who believes in accountability and transparency, I believe that this is kind of the next steps that council could possibly consider because it keeps everybody safe, including residents, employees and council."

  • READ MORE: Fedeyko pursuing Whistleblowers policy

Councillor Alex Reed was pleased to see the proposed policy would include all town employees, mayor, and town council.

"I'm aware of at least one member of town council who approached a town employee as a friend trying to secure information about senior administration," said Reed. "The staff member characterized that approach as unsolicited, unwelcomed and unprofessional, bordering on harassment."

He did not provide any further details on his accusation but did go on to point to what was occurring behind the scenes prior to the recent dismissal of Chestermere's mayor, several town councillors and all three of its chief administrative officers by Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver.

"What's less known about that story is that there are actually 62 good staff members who left that organization because there was no policy there to protect them against organizational harassment from councillors or members of council who had hidden agendas and were constantly meddling in the affairs of administration. So, I'm glad that have this policy come forward that will protect those staff In that situation."

Some questions were raised over the cost, and whether its redundant to what's already accessible to through the town's human resources department and the office of the Alberta Ombudsman.

Fedeyko did reach out to the Ombudsman's office while researching the issue. She said there are limitations to what complaints can be filed with the Ombudsman's office.

"That has to be a decision that's been made," she explained to council. "You can't just take a complaint to their office. It actually has to be a complaint that has a finalized decision to it before they step in to investigate."

The province has its own whistleblowing protection act policy governing government office (members of the Legislative Assembly, office of the premier and offices of a minister), offices of the Legislature, as well as public entities and prescribed service providers identified by regulation.

A draft of the policy is expected to return to council for consideration no later than June 30.