New integrity commissioner: contract terminated by Sudbury, hired by Stratford

Stratford City Council has voted to hire David Boghosian as integrity commissioner, after the City of Greater Sudbury voted to terminate his contract earlier this month.

The vote at Monday’s night’s meeting at Stratford city hall came after a staff recommendation to hire Boghosian, who has extensive experience.

Council debated the merits of the hire, after Boghoisian’s work with Sudbury was brought up.

CBC news reported his dismissal came shortly after three code of conduct complaints against Sudbury councillors were presented earlier this month, with councillors rejecting his recommendations.

At Stratford city hall, Coun. Larry McCabe spoke in favour of Boghosian and suggested “reading in between the lines” as it seemed like a “number of councillors (in Sudbury area) were trying to keep investigations from happening”.

Boghosian told MyStratfordNow Sudbury council provided 6 months’ notice of early termination of his contract. The vote to terminate the contract was 7-6.

“Four of the seven councillors who voted in favour of the motion had been found by me to have breached the code of conduct over the previous six months, two at the very meeting at which I was terminated.” 

Coun. Cody Sebben said he did not support the hire for Stratford and suggested referring the other three Stratford applicants back to staff to find the “next best suitable candidate”.

The city received four applications for the position. Two were shortlisted and interviewed. Boghosian has more than three decades of experience providing legal services to municipalities including integrity commissioner services.

Councillor Jo-Dee Burbach said “it would be hard to find an integrity commissioner that… hasn’t been criticized in the press.”

Sebben noted that criticism from Sudbury council included that Boghosian’s commentary was “not based solely on the factual information” and that they were also critical of him “not pursuing conduct that was offensive” from council members.

Council voted on the appointment and it was carried, with three councillors opposed to the appointment.

Per the report presented to Stratford City Council, the integrity commissioner provides advice and education to council and can conduct inquiries of council and local boards, to determine if they have contravened code of conduct or the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

According to the Municipal Act, all municipalities must appoint an integrity commissioner.

Added Boghosian: “There is a problem with the Ontario integrity commissioner system where the very persons whose conduct is being policed can terminate the policer if they don’t like the IC’s decisions.

“That problem needs to be fixed.” 

Boghosian will remain Sudbury’s integrity commissioner until he is replaced.

 – with files from Paul Cluff