Harassment and bullying are not allowed in the workplace, and municipal council chambers should be no exception.

Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen made that comment as we approach one year since Jackie Hunt stepped down as Mayor for that municipality. Hunt, along with councillors Jeannot Robert and Ron Mamchuk handed in their resignations last spring. Following her resignation, Hunt issued a statement, saying "when a Council cannot function as a group, and when mediation does not work, and when name calling and belligerent behaviour become the norm, it is time to re-evaluate your spot at the table."

(Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen)Hunt's resignation eventually led to a by-election and in July of last year, a new council was elected with Chris Ewen becoming Mayor.

Ewen says he gets the impression the province doesn't ever want a repeat of what happened in Ritchot, yet he questions why it has taken so long to make any changes.

Speaking before municipal officials in Brandon last week, Minister of Municipal Relations Jeff Wharton says new rules and regulations are coming, though he doesn't plan to give a timeline for how quickly that might happen.

"I don't know why it's taking this long in the first place," says Ewen. "In the real world outside of these council meetings nobody gets away with assaults, harassments or anything like that, so I don't know why we are taking so long to figure this out."

Ewen says bullying and harassment is very much still an issue within municipal councils in this province.

"I'm tired of it, I don't think that's how we should be running any kind of government," says Ewen. "It is a problem throughout all of Manitoba and we need to figure out what to do."

Ewen says the fact this topic was discussed at length at Association of Manitoba Municipalities last week, proves there is still a problem. He notes harassment is unacceptable whether it involves a volunteer position, low wage earner or within politics.

"There are issues that shouldn't be happening anywhere," says Ewen. "You should be able to get the job done without feeling harassed or bullied."

"We have a responsibility to look at it and move forward in a fashion that has the municipalities and everyone taking part and making sure it is a collaborative effort to ensure that we all get this right," says Wharton.

Ewen says consequences for harassment within councils should be no different than for any other workplace. For example, if you verbally assault someone, you can expect charges to be laid.

According to Wharton, every council in Manitoba is mandated by a code of conduct. However, AMM says it has no teeth. Ewen says he couldn't agree more. He suggests maybe heads of council need more power to be able to suspend a councillor who acts out.

Warton says the province hopes to work in collaboration with AMM. He notes they will come up with ideas and a model on how to move forward in a relatively quick manner.