Queen’s Park passes bill to allow councillors to be fired for violating code of conduct

Queen's Park is shown in the aerial photo. Mon., May 25, 2026. PHOTO: CTV NEWS

An Ottawa Liberal MPP is applauding the passage of a provincial bill that would allow municipal councillors who violate the code of conduct to be fired.

Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, would allow municipalities to remove a councillor after a recommendation by the municipal integrity commissioner, approval from the integrity commissioner of Ontario, and a unanimous vote by council.

Orléans MPP Stephen Blais said Tuesday, when the bill passed third reading, that the province took an important step toward greater accountability.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters

“For years, victims, municipal staff, advocates and Integrity Commissioners warned that Ontario’s municipal accountability laws were broken. Today, Ontario finally acknowledged that reality,” Blais said in a news release.

Blais moved a version of the bill in the previous legislature, called the “Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act,” but it failed on vote in 2023.

The legislation comes in response to findings from the City of Ottawa’s integrity commissioner that former city councillor Rick Chiarelli harassed and bullied female staff and had acted inappropriately towards women who worked in his office or had interviewed for a position in his office. Chiarelli refused to resign and remained a councillor until 2022, though council voted to dock his pay. He chose not to seek re-election.

“Women came forward with extraordinary courage. They exposed serious flaws in Ontario’s laws and forced this province to confront the reality that municipal accountability systems were failing victims,” Blais said.

Some former staffers who worked for Chiarelli spoke at a public hearing in Ottawa about the bill, saying the issue is non-partisan and about workplace rights and human rights.

According to the text of the bill, a municipal integrity commissioner may, after conducting an investigation, recommend to the provincial integrity commissioner that the subject councillor’s seat be declared vacant. If approved by the province, it would return to the municipal council for a vote, which must be unanimous, excluding the councillor who is the subject of the complaint, though he or she may take part in discussions prior to the vote.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The bill must still come before the Lieutenant Governor for Royal Assent.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack says he hopes to have the new rules in place ahead of the October municipal elections.

With files from The Canadian Press