Sarnia's mayor is hoping to turn over a new leaf this term.
Mike Bradley is recommending that all members of Sarnia council complete mandatory harassment training -- calling it a proactive step.
"There's no question this council wants to move in a positive direction and I think, as the leader of council, one of the issues that I can address upfront is the mandatory harassment training in the workplace," said Bradley. "In the past council it was not mandatory and I did not take it. Lessons were learned. Mistakes were made. This is a chance to make sure this new council, including myself, are moving in the right track and understand fully the workplace and their interaction with staff."
Bradley, who breached the city's workplace harassment policy and the Occupational Health and Safety Act last term, said his recommendation is not related to sanctions that were placed against him.
"This is something that I've instigated, saying that this is something the entire council needs to go through on a mandatory basis," he said.
He said council needs to keep up with the times.
"The times have changed greatly and I hear continually from the private sector and public sector workplaces that issues are deteriorating without resolving them at the source to try and move forward," said Bradley. "This is a way that this council, at least, can say, 'Yes, we understood the rules. We understand what we can and can not do and move forward.' That's what this is about."
Mayor Bradley is recommending the training be scheduled by city staff with a third party and completed before March 1, 2019.
"I think it's important to move quickly on an issue like this, because new councillors are getting up to speed, I'm getting up to speed, because every council in every term of office is different. This is obviously an issue that needs to be dealt with and I think it's a reasonable thing to have that training," he said.
The mayor's recommendation will be considered at Sarnia council's December 17 regular meeting.