City councillors have asked staff for more changes to a whistleblower policy that would allow anonymous third-party reporting at city hall. During a public meeting Monday, council unanimously adopted a motion to send the policy back to staff after suggesting it needed clarifying definitions, ensuring reports are reasonable and considering direct reporting to council. The new whistleblower policy is being drafted to replace the current policy, as well as existing fraud policy. Staff say designed the policy has been designed following council directives that came last fall after former councillor Shila Sharps presented a motion to make enhancements to the policy, allowing anonymous third-party reporting as a mechanism to increase public confidence. Council also wanted the policy to strengthen anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers and provide annual anonymized reporting on the number and types of disclosures received by the city and the outcomes of those reports to council. Lola Barta, interim managing director of corporate services, says the current whistleblower policy is managed internally because it only applies to city employees. “However, the new policy now brings in elements from the fraud policy as well as it expands who can make a report,” she said. “So it makes more sense for it to fall under corporate services and it would be managed by the finance department.” If approved, council would also need to approve a budget amendment to add $100,000 from...
exporters knowingly avoided U. S. duties on Asian and European flat-rolled steel products, agreeing to pay $19 million to resolve the dispute, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the U...