Embroiled in controversy, the city council dismisses a new integrity commissioner

A divided council in eastern Ontario has become so dysfunctional that it voted on four integrity commissioner reports and fired two integrity commissioners this month alone.

The Rideau Lakes Township City Council on Tuesday made public an integrity commissioner report finding that a council member sexually harassed a staff member.

But a majority of the council voted against the council’s docking. Linda Carr paid 15 days as recommended because they did not accept that the allegations were true.

Carr told CBC on Thursday that the allegations against her were false and politically motivated.

“Being on council turned into a nightmare,” she said.

Recent council meetings have seen stimulating and sometimes heated discussions between council members and mayor Arie Hoogenboom.

Hoogenboom, who voted in favor of sanctioning Carr, acknowledged that divisions within the council have hampered its ability to govern the municipality, about 50 kilometers north of Kingston, Ont.

“It’s quite difficult because we’ve had a number of complaints from integrity commissioners in recent months and we still have a council that disagrees,” he said.

The Integrity Commissioner is intended to be an independent and impartial position that investigates allegations from citizens and municipal employees about violations of the code of conduct by council members. But some Rideau Lakes council members, including Carr, say the mechanism is being used to prosecute retaliation.

“We have a little problem with our council, as you can see,” Carr said.

‘Off-colour’ comment

The allegations against Carr stem from a complaint made to integrity commissioner Tony Fleming last October, which suggested she had made an inappropriate comment to an employee.

Fleming’s report was made public Tuesday after the council voted twice in September to keep its contents private. At a council meeting in August, Coun. Paula Banks called the investigation “inappropriate,” “flawed” and the result of a “personal vendetta.”

The report detailed how a complainant alleged that Carr asked a staff member before a committee meeting, “Are you here to work or just to continue showing off your good (redacted) self to the crowd?”

“The redacted word would have identified an individual,” Fleming told the meeting Tuesday when asked what it was.

Carr denied making the comment and several witnesses supported her denial.

But Fleming found more credible the testimony of several other witnesses, who said unequivocally that she had made an inappropriate comment. One witness in particular recalled that the comment was about the staff member’s appearance and that it was “dirty”.

Fleming concluded on the balance of probabilities that Carr had made the comment, which he said amounted to sexual harassment and a “serious breach” of the council’s code of conduct.

He recommended the council suspend Carr’s pay for 15 days, a punishment he said was “reflective of this seriousness” and “designed to deter future offenses of this nature”.

‘I’m tired of the nonsense’

The council fired Fleming as integrity commissioner, with several council members questioning whether his position as a city attorney amounted to a conflict of interest.

“I’m tired of the nonsense with these reports from the integrity commissioner,” Jeff Banks said during the meeting on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the council narrowly approved motions to dock the council. Paula Banks’ pay for 16 days after calling the Rideau Lakes Grassroots Group a “hate group,” while Coun. Marcia Maxwell lost 42 days of pay for helping the group distribute flyers criticizing the city.

But the council also voted to fire Bill Hunter, the integrity commissioner who investigated these complaints. Hunter replaced Fleming.

In response to his resignation, Hunter said at an October 7 council meeting: “It will be the third IC in 12 months, but that’s good. Let’s see where that goes.”