City of Brantford Council discussed whether or not neighbourhood associations should have their own code of conduct policy during the Committee of the Whole Operations meeting on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
The discussion came about when Ward 1 Councillor Michael Sullivan brought forward a resolution.
“Neighbourhood associations within the City of Brantford exist to serve residents and communities across the City’s wards and these neighbourhood associations are comprised of members of the community who engage with municipal matters and local governance,” he said. “Neighbourhood associations are often perceived by residents as bodies that represent, advise on, or influence municipal decision-making and it is essential that all residents of the City of Brantford have confidence that neighbourhood associations act in a fair, transparent, and ethical manner and in the best interests of the community.”
Noting that neighbourhood associations are not currently subject to the City’s code of conduct, or equivalent ethical governance framework, his resolution asked that staff report back within one council cycle with a draft proposal for a code of conduct, as well as any other policies necessary, that would apply to all neighbourhood associations.
“It’s been brought to my attention by a few of the associations within the city that there are situations that are arising that are not being rectified because there’s no current policy or code of conduct in place; the employee conduct for the City doesn’t cover it and the council code of conduct doesn’t cover it,” he explained. “This is just a way of having staff look into finding something that would directly cover neighbourhood associations, because anybody involved in these associations shouldn’t have to worry about any type of harassment or anything like that happening on the committee.”
Councillor Gino Caputo said that he felt as if the Neighbourhood Associations already have policies and procedures in place in regards to conducting their business.
“If this was to be channeled somewhere, it should probably go to the Neighbourhood Alliance of Brantford (NAB), who oversees the neighbourhood associations, versus us having at council,” he said.
Councillor Dan McCreary stated that a neighbourhood association code of conduct should be more thoroughly considered.
“I think there’s merit to this discussion. The code of conduct the City of Brantford has in place is very robust; it applies to the 11 of us, it applies to our staff and it applies to the volunteers who act on our behalf serving on committees like the Heritage Committee or the Airport Board,” he said. “Volunteers serving on neighbourhood associations are not captured by our code of conduct, and maybe that’s right, maybe it’s not, but I think that’s something that we need to have further consultation on. I think there’s a discussion that we should be having with the neighbourhood associations and I think there’s a discussion to have with the NAB, and I’m not sure that can be rationally or appropriately defined within one cycle.”
McCreary added that if a code of conduct for the neighbourhood associations was put in place, the NAB, as well as all the parties involved, should have a clear understanding of what that would entail.
“I think there needs to be a more fulsome knowledge given to the neighbourhood associations and to the NAB about exactly what a code of conduct is and what that means in terms of the time commitment for volunteers, who would then have to complete training modules, review manuals and the understand what the code is and how it plays out,” he explained. “If there’s a complaint that’s registered, then there’s a quasi-legal process that follows, resulting in an investigation by an Integrity Commissioner, which will then cost the municipality between $5,000 and $10,000 per occurrence, as we have learned in the past. So I think this resolution before us needs a little bit of work.”
Councillor Richard Carpenter also had the opportunity to weigh in on the conversation, saying that he understood Sullivan’s intent on bringing the resolution forward
“It’s about having some way for the neighbourhood associations to deal with problems as they arise, with a process. But I also agree that that means it needs to be in consultation with the neighbourhood associations themselves, with a review of their own by-laws and their own codes that they have currently, so that we get one consistent approach,” he said. “I don’t think what Councillor Sullivan was doing here is wrong. I think the intention is right, but we just have to tweak this a little bit to make sure we consult with everybody [involved] and have staff come back with some recommendations that the neighbourhood associations themselves agree with.”
He then suggested that perhaps such a report could return to council during the second or third quarter of 2026.
Councillor Mandy Samwell also agreed that any sort of code of conduct in regards to the neighbourhood association should be done in consultation with them, rather than for them.
Councillor Linda Hunt later moved a referral asking staff to return in one cycle with a recommendation regarding the process of creating a City of Brantford code of conduct for all volunteers, including those serving with neighbourhood associations.
Carpenter clarified that the referral was not directing staff to create the code of conduct, but to simply come back with a recommendation on how they should proceed with the consultation process.
The vote on the referral was carried on a vote of 7-0.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
