Rule No. 2 Gifts and Benefits

No member shall accept a fee, advance, gift, loan, or personal benefit that is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of his or her duties of Office, except as specifically permitted by the exceptions listed below.

compensation authorized by law;
such gifts or benefits that normally accompany the responsibilities of office and are received as an incident of protocol or social obligation;
a political contribution otherwise reported by law;
services provided without compensation by persons volunteering their time to a Member;
a suitable memento of a function honouring the Member (i.e. a trinket or favour of relatively little monetary value such as pen, notepad, t-shirts);
food, lodging, transportation and entertainment provided by provincial, regional and local governments or political subdivisions of them, by the Federal government or by a foreign government within a foreign country or by a conference, seminar or event organizer where the Member is either speaking or attending in an official capacity at an official event;

food and beverages consumed at banquets, receptions or similar events, for charitable, not for profit and community purposes, if:

attendance serves a legitimate public duty purpose; and
the value is reasonable and the invitations infrequent; and

business meals;
communication to the offices of a Member, including subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals related to the duties of Office.
Sponsorships and donations for community events or initiatives organized or run by a member or a third party on behalf of a Member where Council has authorized or endorsed the event or initiative.

Commentary

(for greater certainty of item j, for Member-organized community events or initiatives, Members should be transparent in their dealings with the public and should not handle any funds on behalf of any organizations and should remain at arms length from the financial aspects of these events and initiatives.)

Rule #2 Part 1(j) does not affect the entitlement of a Member of Council to:

Use her or his office expense budget to run or support community events subject to the terms of the Councillor Expense Policy;
Urge constituents, businesses and other groups to support community events put on by others in the Member’s Ward or elsewhere in the City;
Play an advisory or membership role in any organization that holds community events in the Member’s Ward; and
Collaborate with the City of Brampton and its agencies to hold community events.

Each Member shall disclose in a Gift Registry to be maintained in the Clerks department all gifts, benefits and hospitality received with an individual value of $50 CAD or more from one source in a calendar year.
The member of Council shall specify for each gift, in a Gift Disclosure Statement to be maintained in the Gift Registry:
1. The nature of the gift, benefit or hospitality
2. The donor of the gift, benefit or hospitality and date of receipt
3. The circumstances under which the gift or benefit was given and received
4. The estimated value of the gift, benefit or hospitality, and
5. The intended use of the gift or benefit.
Commentary
Gifts and benefits are often received by Members in the course of their duties, and attendance at public functions is expected and considered part of their role. The object of this rule is to provide transparency around the receipt of incidental gifts and benefits, where the total value may be perceived as potentially influencing decision making.

Personal integrity and sound business practices require that relationships with vendors, contractors, or others doing business with the City, be such that no Member of Council is perceived as showing favouritism or bias toward the vendor, contractor or other. Each Member of Council is accountable to the public and should keep a list of all gifts received from individuals, firms or associations (with estimated values) in their constituency offices for review by Integrity Commissioner, as he/she deems appropriate. However, those gifts or benefits that exceed $50 or the annual limit of $50 for one source, shall be kept on a form prescribed by the Integrity Commissioner and filed with the office of the City Clerk on a quarterly basis.

Gifts that are subject to listing on the Member of Council information statement can be many types of things, and may include:
1. property (i.e. a book, flowers, a gift basket, a painting or sculpture, furniture, wine);
2. use of property or facilities (i.e. a vehicle, an office, a cottage) at a reduced rate or at no cost;
3. membership in a club or other organization (i.e. a golf club) at a reduced rate or at no cost;
4. an invitation to and/or tickets to attend an event (i.e. an athletic commercial event, concert, a play) at a reduced rate or at no cost;
5. an invitation to attend a gala or fund-raising event at a reduced rate or at no cost.
An invitation to attend a function where the invitation is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of the Member’s duties of Office (i.e. for which the public office holder has a ceremonial, presentational or representational official role) is not considered to be a gift. Attendance is considered to be the fulfillment of an official function or duty.

There are a range of expenses that support a Councillors’ role in community development and engagement activities in their ward.

For MPPs, these expenses are generally paid for by caucus funds. This is not the case for municipal Members of Council. The section of the Councillor Expense Policy that deals with Community Expense-Events will indicate allowable expenses for reimbursement and provide for Members of Council to include certain community expenses related to a Member’s role in community development as allowable expenditures from their office expense budget. However, gaming tickets during charitable functions, such as raffle tickets, table prize tickets, etc. should not be eligible for reimbursement
Expenses incurred by Members of Council working during normal meal periods serve a legitimate public duty purpose, provided that the expenses incurred are reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. Reasonable and appropriate expenses are those that:

Are incurred for an official duty or function;
Are modest, representing a prudent use of public funds;
Do not involve alcoholic beverages unless in a ticketed event, the cost of such beverages is included in the ticket price.

In general, working meals are to be provided in-house.

Commentary

Rule #2 must be considered with and balanced against the principle contained expense policies in all Ontario municipalities, which is that Members are entitled to be reimbursed for expenses that are legitimately and appropriately incurred for an official duty or function and which are reasonable and prudent expenses and use of public funds in the circumstances. In making a determination of what constitutes a modest and prudent use of public funds, Members should consider the dollar amounts set out in the Council Expense Policy, as amended.

Given the heavy demands on Members’ schedules in the performance of their duties and functions, there are legitimate circumstances that require business meetings over a meal period and result in the Member working through his or her normal meal periods.

“Official duties” or “functions” has the following meaning:

For Members of Council, it includes those activities that are reasonably related to a Member’s office, taking into consideration the different interest, the diverse profiles of their wards and their different roles on Committees, agencies, boards and commissions.

For persons employed in the office of Members, it includes those activities and responsibilities that flow from acting on direction from or taking action on behalf of a member.

As representatives of the municipal government, Members will be expected or required to extend hospitality to external parties as part of their official duties and functions. This Code recognizes that through adherence to the current and proposed rules of the City’s Councillor Expense Policy, it is legitimate for Members to incur hospitality expenses for meetings, examples of which include:

Engaging representatives of other levels of government, international delegations or visitors, the broader public sector, business contacts and other third parties in discussions on official matters;
Providing persons from national, international and charitable organizations with an understanding and appreciation of the City of Brampton or the workings of its municipal government;
Honouring persons from Brampton in recognition of exceptional public service.

This Code recognizes that the current City of Brampton Councillor Expense Policy, holds legitimate that Members of Council will be reimbursed or have their office budgets charged for expenses that are incurred while extending hospitality to an external party, including hospitality that takes place in the course of travelling on a duty or function or a Member of Council provided the expenses are reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances.

Reasonable and appropriate expenses are expenses that strike a balance between economy (the expenses represent a prudent use of public funds) and proportionality (the expenses represent what is customary for such functions).

Wherever possible, Members of Council should utilize City-owned facilities and resources that are appropriate to the function.

This Code recognizes that as community leaders, Members of Council may lend their support to and encourage, community donations to registered charitable and Not for profit groups. Monies raised through fundraising efforts shall go directly to the groups or volunteers and chapters acting as local organizers of the group. This Code recognizes the important work of Members of Council in supporting charitable causes and the need for transparency in Members’ involvement. This Code sets the following guiding principles for Members of Council:

Members of Council should not directly or indirectly manage or control any monies received relating to charitable organization’s fundraising.
Where a Member of Council sponsors and/or lends support to a charitable organization’s event, this Code recognizes that all donations are subject to the Code of Conduct.
No donation cheques should be made out to a Member of Council.

Nothing included herein affects the entitlement of a Member of Council to:

Use her or his office expense budget to run or support community events subject to the terms of the Councillor Expense Policy section relating to Community Expense Events;
urge constituents, businesses and other groups to support community events and advance the needs of a charitable organization put on by others in the Member’s Ward or elsewhere in the City;
play an advisory or membership role in any organization that holds community events in the Member’s Ward; and
collaborate with the City of Brampton and its agencies to hold community events.

Members of Council should not handle any funds on behalf of any charitable organization or Community group and should remain at arms length from the financial aspects of these community and external events.