Three councillors, who were subjected to investigations by the integrity commissioner, will not face any financial penalties.
On Monday, Sarnia council voted against the latest recommendations by Paul Watson.
He had suggested Bill Dennis, Terry Burrell, and Nathan Colquhoun have their pay docked for code of conduct violations.
Council elected to receive and file the three reports and take no further action.
Watson had recommended Dennis' pay be suspended for 90 days, and Burrell's pay be suspended for 60 days.
Burrell commented on the report.
"I do find this whole process kind of weird, to be honest with you," said Burrell. "There was a complaint made and then the commissioner interviewed one councillor. From that, he sort of ran with it. Even though all of us were there, only one was interviewed. He took the complaint, decided he was going to change the complaint. As people who are part of this process, we don't even get the opportunity to talk to the people. I understand why you wouldn't be able to know who the complainant is but you would think that if someone is a witness against you, you would have the right to cross examine witnesses. That doesn't appear to be the case."
Councillor Colquhoun was found to have breached closed-meeting confidentiality after he posted details online about the KOJO training session. He was also found to have spoken in a disrespectful manner toward Dennis.
Watson had recommended that Colquhoun be handed a 90 day pay suspension and that he be removed from any advisory committees or local boards.
Watson's full findings can be viewed here.
Councillor Colquhoun admitted in May, that he shared a letter received from the KOJO Institute following a training session November 15, and identified some councillors as being hostile during a separate closed meeting.
He even asked to be found guilty of breaching the code of conduct, but later withdrew his motion when told that council doesn’t have the authority to impose penalties in the absence of a report from the integrity commissioner.
Councillor Mike Stark blasted Colquhoun for his breach of confidentiality.
"This breach, in my view, is a serious, serious contravention of what we as councillors believe to be the trustworthiness of each other," said Stark. "To suggest that this is considered to be acceptable, is far beyond what I consider to be acceptable."
Colquhoun said he recognized his wrongdoing.
"The letter that I posted, I did have permission from the person who wrote the letter and I didn't think that the bureaucratic laws preventing that letter from going to the public should have stopped it," said Colquhoun. "But, I agree with councillor Stark and councillor White that absolutely, it was a breach of what we all hold dear in a democratic and transparent government."
Councillor Stark asked the city to write a letter to the province, calling for the integrity commissioner's act of Ontario to be abolished and replaced with a municipal model.
His motion passed with unanimous support.
He said it's been well documented that the act does not work.
"It is an act that pits councillors against one another," he said. "The integrity commissioner should not be used as a bludgeoning tool to inflict pain on other members. Quite frankly, I think it's abhorrent that his portion of the integrity commissioner's role is continued."
With files from Melanie Irwin