City Hall's 12th Avenue entrance

Integrity Commissioner makes impact at the City of Vancouver in first term

November 30 2023 –

The Office of the Integrity Commissioner Annual Report (825 KB), released today, provides an overview of work completed by the City’s Integrity Commissioner, Lisa Southern, in the second year of her two-year appointment.
 
“I am proud of the work we have accomplished last year focusing on supporting a newly formed Council in its inaugural year and delivering education to foster common understandings,” said Southern. “Throughout the first term, we have been processing complaints and conducting investigations where needed. We recommended improvements to the Code of Conduct By-law adopted by Council, which supports continued excellence in a transparent ethics regime for the City of Vancouver.”
 
In the report, which covers the period November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023, the Office of the Integrity Commissioner outlined key accomplishments:

  • Supported Council during an election year to understand its obligations, and then transitioned to support a new Council in its inaugural year with education on core ethical obligations. 
  • Created a structure to support timely advice, ongoing education and conduct of complaint/investigative functions. 
  • Helped the City meet obligations for transparency and accountability by publishing investigation reports and information bulletins on key legal issues under the Code of Conduct By-law (214 KB), including conflicts of interest, communications, open-meetings, and in-camera confidentiality obligations. 

Southern has been reappointed by Council to her role as Integrity Commissioner and will begin her second two-year term in January 2024. 

Background

City Council appointed Lisa Southern as the City of Vancouver’s first Integrity Commissioner in 2021, following the enactment of the City of Vancouver Code of Conduct By-law (214 KB). This appointment made Vancouver the second municipality in British Columbia to voluntarily establish an independent ethics position.

Learn more about the Office of the Integrity Commissioner and view the annual reports for the first and second years of the Integrity Commissioner’s initial term.