Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat council to vote on whistleblower policy in packed agenda

Jul 2, 2024 | 1:30 PM

Medicine Hat city council could tonight approve the creation of a whistleblower phone line as part of an updated policy.

If the proposed changes to the Whistleblower Policy and Procedures #8049 are approved, the city will begin a “request for proposal” process to find a third party for the phone line.

The city’s People Services division will also commence a change management plan to ensure all employees are trained and familiar with the policy and start working on a robust employee code of conduct.

The whistleblower policy comes forward after council in April asked staff to research options for the complaint process for alleged code of conduct violations.

It is common to find whistleblower programs at other Alberta municipalities, such as in Calgary and Wetaskiwin.

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The updated policy was approved by the Administrative Committee on June 19.

Also coming forward to council is a pair of verbal updates without any details.

The first update is about the council chambers from corporate services and the second is about a request to address council given by the city manager.

There were some changes made to the council chambers and where media is allowed to sit in the past few weeks but it’s unclear if the update is related.

Several requests to address council have been made by residents and denied in recent weeks. But that, too, may not be related to the verbal update.

Mayor Linnsie Clark will give a notice of motion at the end of the council meeting, an item used to give advance warning of a motion likely to come up at the next regular meeting.

It’s unknown what her proposed item will be.

Clark received criticism from some of her colleagues when she made an information request earlier this spring without giving a notice of motion in advance.

Council will also consider a pair of rezoning requests impacting 1720 Bell St. and 620 Porcelain Ave.

The full council agenda can be viewed at MedicineHat.ca.