HALDIMAND—Haldimand County’s integrity commissioner is pushing back against an idea that councillors facing formal complaints are required to hire lawyers or that taxpayers must foot the bill.
In a letter to Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley and members of Council, Integrity Commissioner David G. Boghosian said there is no requirement for a council member to retain legal counsel when responding to items like a code of conduct complaint.
“In my experience acting as integrity commissioner for numerous municipalities across Ontario, the vast majority of members successfully respond to complaints without legal representation,” Boghosian wrote.
His letter follows comments made during a June 22, 2026 Council meeting. At the time, Council voted 4-2 to reprimand Councillor Debera McKeen following Boghosian’s report on her behaviour toward fellow councillors in a series of emails earlier this year.
At that meeting, Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley said of the integrity commissioner process, “We need to recognize that this is a cost to the taxpayers and to Council members. Every time a Council member gets hit with an IC, they have to hire a lawyer. We’re paying lawyers tens of thousands of dollars to fight these reports. We need to do better.”
While Haldimand must budget to cover Boghosian’s pay, based on the number and extent of investigations completed, Boghosian interpreted Bentley’s comments as suggesting councillors must retain legal counsel and that those legal costs are borne by Haldimand County residents.
He said that while municipalities can, in some circumstances, reimburse members for legal expenses incurred while performing their duties, he does not believe that should be done when the member is found to be in breach.
“In my view, it would generally be inconsistent with the principles governing municipal indemnification and accountability to require taxpayers to bear the legal costs incurred by a member who has been found to have contravened the code of conduct,” he wrote.
Boghosian pointed to proceedings under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act as an example, where legal expenses are generally reimbursed only when a member successfully defends themselves.
“The principle reflected in caselaw is that public funds should not be used to indemnify a member found to have contravened legislation governing members’ ethical obligations. This would include the County’s code of conduct governing members of council and local boards,” wrote Boghosian.
He said accurate information about the complaint process and associated costs is important to maintaining public confidence in the integrity commissioner and code of conduct framework.
