Grey County Deputy Warden Paul McQueen says he will make scheduling adjustments after an integrity commissioner report said his attendance at two virtual meetings simultaneously violated the council code of conduct.
The integrity commissioner also said no sanction is warranted against McQueen.
Back on March 21, 2022 the integrity commissioner received a complaint filed by County council member, (Owen Sound) Deputy Mayor Brian O’Leary who requested an investigation to determine if McQueen contravened the Council Code of Conduct of Grey County or Grey Highlands.
The complaint referred to March 17th, when McQueen, who is also Grey Highlands Mayor, appeared to be participating simultaneously in two electronic meetings and when confronted, the complaint alleged McQueen demurred rather than answering directly.
The complaint asserted receiving per diems for both of the meetings would not be ethical, and it claimed that attending simultaneous meetings was a practice that McQueen had engaged in on other occasions.
The integrity commissioner says McQueen’s attendance is in the records of both the March 17th Affordable Housing meeting and the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) meeting, something the commission says McQueen admitted to during their investigation. The commissioner also says McQueen emailed NEC staff to decline his per diem.
But it also notes McQueen received per diems for virtual meetings occurring concurrently on three separate occasions in 2021, adding, “We find that claiming and accepting multiple per diems under such circumstances raises an ethical concern beyond simply failing to diligently participate in the simultaneously occurring meetings. The receipt of a per diem under such circumstances reflects an improper ‘doubledipping’, whereby the member is twice compensated for the time spent.” It adds, while the amount may not be significant, the principle “ought to be respected.”
The commissioner says in their report that electronic meetings have opened up new and uncharted territory for ‘multi-tasking,’ noting, momentarily checking an email is not considered problematic, but says participation should engage active listening and thoughtful deliberation.
The commissioner’s report says being in more than one meeting simultaneously throws into question meaningful participation in either meeting. It adds, members of a deliberative body, particularly where rights of individuals or property owners are the subject of deliberations, owe a duty of undivided attention.
The commission recommended that where municipalities or other bodies pay a per diem, they should pay attention to the language in their policies to help guide members with regard to compensation.
Grey County Council has voted to approve the report and direct staff to draft revisions to the Council Code of Conduct to add clarity around meeting attendance.
McQueen told councillors at the June 23rd meeting, he apologizes for the meeting conflicts, noting, “I love this work as I have spent 25 years in municipal politics.” He added, “Unfortunately, we sometimes run into scheduling conflicts.”
He continued, “I can assure you that my integrity is still intact and my target to attend all meetings scheduled for me involve slipping in and out of a few meetings,” adding, “This is only possible because of Zoom.”
McQueen added, “I have not received more remuneration than I am entitled to and I agree with the integrity commissioner’s comments that sanctions are not warranted.”
He also said in discussion, “I have made changes that I will not be anywhere near a second meeting during another meeting, even if it’s being called upon.” McQueen says the issue has been on his mind for months. “It’s been on me, I take my job very serious. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, I feel that I have been a great councillor, and I understand the issue around trust and that’s certainly very, very important, and I know that we are to be looked upon to be at a higher standard and that’s why we do have a code of conduct.”
“Moving forward I will do better,” said McQueen.