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Gibsons hires ‘bullying, harassment’ consultant

Greg Moore
Greg Moore
Greg Moore.

The Town of Gibsons is bringing in former Port Coquitlam mayor and Metro Vancouver chair Greg Moore for a one-day session on “bullying and harassment in the workplace of local governments.”

The decision to hire Moore as a consultant is part of council’s reaction to a controversial statement earlier this month from the Town’s chief administrative officer that singled out a former mayor and some community groups, accusing them of bullying and harassment of staff.

In his own statement last week, Mayor Bill Beamish called for “a new way forward” and actions in four areas, including a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and reaching out with “opportunities to dialogue and exchange views about how we can respectfully interact with each other.”

Beamish said Moore was recommended by the president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, and he’s looking forward to “a good discussion on some of the issues we’ve been facing and how we should be approaching these issues as an organization.”

The session with Moore will be for council and senior municipal staff only.

At the end of the meeting, William Baker, president of the O’Shea Oceanmount Community Association, one of the groups mentioned in the CAO’s statement, asked if others could attend the session.

“Given that there are members of the community that have been called out as bullies, would council agree to invite either members of the public or members of organizations to this session so that everyone has the same understanding of what it means to harass or bully?”

Beamish said while the workshop with Moore is intended to be in-house, they may widen the scope for future sessions after hearing from another consultant they plan to bring in – a law firm specializing in conflict resolution.

“If we retain them they will conduct an investigation, which may lead to recommendations to include a session to the community. We’ll see which way they go with that,” he said.

Beamish added that he’s “not averse” to a broader discussion with the community,  and expected that might start with the July 30 community dialogue being planned by council.

The session led by Moore has been tentatively set for July 8. Moore’s fee is $2,000 plus expenses.