Alberta town adopts new resident code of conduct to address staff safety

An Alberta town has laid out rules for how residents must treat municipal staff and the consequences if they step out of line. 

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Ben Gronberg, a councillor for Devon, Alta., about 25 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, says nothing specific triggered the new code of conduct, which is meant to protect staff from mistreatment and abuse. 

Gronberg did, however, say he thinks there's a growing trend across the country for public servants to be yelled at, bullied or harassed by members of the public.

"As a municipal council, our job is to take care of administration and employees who are putting themselves in front of the public," he said. 

Devon's code of conduct, which was unanimously approved by council on Monday, establishes steps the town can take when residents display "inappropriate behaviour" toward employees.

That includes threatening or hostile actions, harassment, bullying and overall "unwelcome conduct."

The first step the town would take if a resident mistreats a staff member is to issue a warning. If the behaviour continues, the town can limit the person to a single point of contact with the municipality or limit all communications to a single mode, such as email.

The most severe measure is to ban residents from accessing certain municipal facilities or from "conducting business" with the town.

Devon's chief administrative officer, Corey Levasseur, said the town developed the code as a proactive measure, as it's not common for staff to report negative interactions with residents.

"Town administration is confident that through this policy, the many positive interactions that we currently experience with the public will continue to grow in number," he said.

However, Levasseur said he also sees a growing trend of municipal employees being mistreated by members of the public.

Devon isn't the first municipality in Alberta to adopt a code of conduct for residents. Lethbridge, Alta., approved a similar policy in July.

"Sometimes the interactions between staff and the community, on very rare occasions, can go off the rails," said Lethbridge Coun. Belinda Crowson. "Our front desk staff certainly has had issues."

"Sometimes it's yelling and shouting, (and) sometimes it's simply the number of times people consistently reach out."

Lethbridge's policy also allows it to limit how residents can contact the city or restrict access to services if a resident repeatedly mistreats employees.

Crowson said Lethbridge tried very hard to balance protecting its staff from mistreatment as well as the rights of residents to contact their municipal government.

Tyler Gandam, the mayor of Wetaskiwin, Alta., and the president of Alberta Municipalities, the organization that represents towns, villages, and cities in the province, said he's not surprised to see these policies adopted.

He said Wetaskiwin's staff have been yelled at in person and over the phone. Recently, a resident speaking to a staff member referred to January's city hall shooting in Edmonton and said "it's not surprising something like that would happen." 

Gandam called it a "veiled threat, but a threat nonetheless."

Wetaskiwin hasn't adopted its own policy yet, he added, but it has been discussed.

"The old adage the customer is always right doesn't work when somebody's mistreating you, yelling at you, swearing at you or threatening you in any way," he said.

He said policy alone isn't enough to prevent municipal staff from being mistreated and there also needs to be a "cultural shift."

"You can have every well-meaning policy and expect people to treat you with respect," Gandam said.

"But if they're not willing to do that, or if they don't have that mindset where they're willing to treat somebody else with respect, no amount of policy is ever going to fix the problem."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.