A follow-up on something I noted in a previous email newsletter edition.
Back in October, a Whitby Council meeting ended with Whitby’s mayor issuing a statement denying allegations.
One allegation was that a “secret” side-meeting violated Ontario’s Municipal Act.
The second allegation accused the Mayor of permitting “ongoing anti-Asian racism at the hands of this Council.”
The secret meeting allegation was investigated by a law firm hired by the municipality, which wrote that there was no secret meeting. [Whitby pays law firms to investigate open meeting complaints instead of the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office, which does not charge municipalities.]
On the second allegation, “Integrity Commissioner” Principles Integrity issued an unsigned report which failed to bring much light to the issue.
Principles Integrity decided they would not make findings of fact, repeatedly emphasizing this.
“It bears repeating that this is not an assessment of whether the accusations of racism are accurate, but rather whether the conduct regarding these accusations is appropriate and acceptable under the Code.”
Instead of dealing with the issue, Principles Integrity decided they would chastise the councillors who made the accusations for doing so in public statements.
The report ruled that making the allegations in a public forum was inappropriate and harmful to the other council members and senior municipal staff. It also ruled that the two council members had more appropriate avenues available to them.
“Alternate paths could and should have been pursued to address these serious allegations, but raising them for the first time in a public forum undermines public confidence in both the elected officials as well as the institution,” wrote the unknown author working for Principles Integrity.
Whitby Council voted to fine each of the two councillors one week’s pay.
The underlying issues remain unresolved.
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v. 1.0.0
Published: May 12, 2025
Last updated: May 12, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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v. 1.0.0 original version