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Just 18 months into his five-year contract, David Boghosian is no longer the city’s integrity commissioner.

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Council voted 7-6 at its meeting Tuesday to end the municipality’s relationship with Toronto’s lawyer.

Ward 11 Council. Bill Leduc introduced the motion the same evening Boghosian presented a report after receiving complaints about posts allegedly made by the councilor on Facebook.

Boghosian said he had no jurisdiction to investigate the complaints; however, he criticized these messages and encouraged voters to make their views known in 2026.

“If the count. Leduc actually shared these positions, he did it in a personal capacity. The conduct alleged in the complaints is not sufficiently related to City business to warrant a finding of violation of the Code of Conduct,” Boghosian wrote, calling one of the posts transphobic and unbecoming of a sitting councilman. .

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” Against. Leduc claims he did not post this and that someone hacked his account to frame him,” the IC reported to council. “This decision means that the Code of Conduct does not apply in the particular circumstances of this case, but it does not mean that Greater Sudbury residents have no recourse. This is a question that can be resolved at the ballot box.”

Leduc’s motion noted that Tom Davies Square was “dissatisfied with the services provided by David Boghosian as the city’s integrity commissioner.”

He asked Éric Labelle, the municipal clerk, to give Boghosian “180 days’ written notice to terminate his services.”

Leduc said he was concerned about Boghosian’s adherence to accuracy.

“During the course of the contract with Mr. Boghosian, I discovered several discrepancies, inconsistencies and misleading information in his reports,” Leduc told his colleagues. “It is important that reports contain accurate information. Reports are living documents on our website, which could come back and hamper the council or even our municipality in the event of a possible investigation from outside sources.

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Leduc said Boghosian even accused staff of being negligent in reporting information to the board.

“This is clearly not justified; we would not tolerate anyone throwing staff under the bus,” Leduc said.

He was also offended by Boghosian’s remarks regarding the ballot boxes and said the IC had a tendency to insert its own opinions into its reports.

Leduc also said Boghosian was wasting taxpayer dollars by filing reports based on investigations that went nowhere. For example, he said Tuesday that the IC presented two reports to the board indicating there was no wrongdoing and no jurisdiction to investigate.

“I think these reports have distracted the council and the public,” Leduc said, adding that he hoped ending the relationship with Boghosian would allow the council to focus its attention on “major issues for our city and our residents “.

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Ward 7 County. Natalie Labbee criticized Boghosian and lent her support to Leduc’s motion.

Labbee had been investigated twice by the IC. Earlier this year, he recommended a 20-day salary suspension for remarks she made on Facebook regarding salary increases for some city managers and managers. Then, on Tuesday, he recommended a five-day suspension for comments Labbee made regarding a $5 tipping fee.

In both cases, the council voted against his recommendations.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Labbee criticized Boghosian.

“I supported the motion presented to relieve the IC because I have growing concerns about the manner and content of the reports submitted to council to date,” she commented. “There was at least one case of invasion of privacy against a member of the public who made a complaint against one of the councilors earlier this year.”

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Labbee said Boghosian also disclosed the name of a community member in one of his reports, although that individual was never investigated.

“Their conduct or online behaviors are not governed by the city’s code of conduct; “They are irrelevant to the process and they did not deserve to have their name associated in any way, portraying them in a negative light, but this happened and it is neither fair nor professional,” he said. Labbee said. “This individual specifically requested that Mr. Boghosian have his name removed from the public record of the report, as well as the Clerk’s Office and this request was either ignored or denied.”

Labbee repeatedly said Boghosian’s reports contained “errors, omissions, personal anecdotes, misinterpretations and opinions” that negatively impacted the Council.

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“These comments and summaries have unfairly contributed to compromising public opinion of us as elected officials and, therefore, our level of competence and integrity,” she said. “These incidents are not unique to Greater Sudbury; several other communities are also experiencing this situation; as is well documented. I look forward to the province’s decision on a better process, instead of what is currently before us, where they pit us against our peers when it comes to making decisions on sanctions and how they work.

Leduc said IC reports should be brief and to the point.

“We don’t want the reports to be lengthy and cost taxpayers money unnecessarily,” he commented.

As Labelle pointed out, Boghosian doesn’t have much experience as an integrity commissioner. Labelle said when Greater Sudbury hired Boghosian in June 2023, he had another contract with IC. Boghosian signed the contract in 2023 for five years.

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Ward 10 County. Fern Cormier has argued that the primary role of any IC is to “find facts”; however, Boghosian inserted his opinions and perspectives into many of his reports.

“Whoever establishes the facts has to present the facts, so if there was a violation, tell me what the allegation is, what the Code of Conduct says about that allegation, and then connect the dots and say- me why a sanction should be imposed. Cormier said, adding that to date he found Boghosian’s reports “unusually commentative in their presentation.”

He declared, paragraph after paragraph, “what you think of the position taken by an elected official, that poses a problem to me,” Cormier told his colleagues. But he said he was not ready to “throw out the baby with the bathwater”.

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Ward 4 County. Pauline Fortin had a business mind regarding the choice made before the council. She said that although a motion was passed to “correct some of the policy” regarding the IC, she considered the problem to be with Boghosian himself and his tendency to deviate from proper procedure.

“The integrity commissioner is a contractor and if you are not satisfied with the work of a contractor, you find a new contractor,” she said.

Leduc, Labbee, Fortin, Ward 2 County. Eric Benoit, councilor of district 3. Michel Brabant, district 5 Com. Mike Parent and Ward 12 County. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann all voted in favor of dismissal.

Mayor Paul Lefebvre, Ward 1 County. Mark Signoretti, Ward 6 County. René Lapierre, Ward 8 Com. Al Sizer, Ward 9, County. Deb McIntosh and Cormier voted against Leduc’s motion.

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