Burns Lake residents will soon be able to file anonymous complaints at the village office.
The village’s new open door complaint policy, which was presented to council last week, originally stated that anonymous complaints would not be allowed. However, councillor Susan Schienbein said that not allowing anonymous complaints would not be beneficial for the municipality.
She suggested revising the policy to state that people who provide their contact information would be given “the highest priority” while still allowing anonymous complaints to be filed at the village office.
“This way there’s an ability to track trends,” said Schienbein. “Providing some anonymity allows people who are afraid in a small town to make a complaint so we can look for themes that emerge.”
Council agreed with her suggestion and asked village staff to amend the new policy.
According to the open door complaint policy, complaints delivered to the village and the actions taken to resolve the issue will be reported to council on a quarterly basis. The quarterly report will list complaints by their file number to protect the confidentiality of the complainants.
“Personal information on every complaint is treated as confidential to protect the privacy of the complainant; however, the complainant should be aware that certain circumstances may indirectly identify them during an investigation,” states the new policy.
Village staff say complaints will be tracked from its initial receipt to its resolution. The village will keep a centralized, up-to-date municipal tracking form which will track each instance by complaint number and define what stage the complaint is at.
The motion to approve the policy was deferred to the next council meeting.