Amherstburg council refers complaint of offensive language to integrity commissioner

A misogynistic slur allegation was the main topic at Amherstburg council on Monday night. CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru explains.

Amherstburg’s council meeting started abruptly with a heated discussion as a personal matter of offensive language was spoken about.

Council met Monday evening and started with a matter that was initially slated to be discussed during closed session prior to the public meeting.

Councillor Don McArthur asked during the closed meeting that the matter instead be discussed in public for transparency reasons.

The item was in relation to a committee member allegedly telling a town employee that another member of town staff is a “f**king b****” while out at a town event.

McArthur stated during the meeting that the language was incredible offensive, and council has an obligation to protect town staff. Other councillors felt it should’ve been spoken about during a closed session rather than “air out the town’s dirty laundry”.

Administration had recommended that a letter be sent to the individual responsible.

A vote to have the member removed from the committee failed. Council instead decided to vote in favour of referring the issue to the integrity commissioner.

Councillor Don McArthur said there needs to be transparency.

“I don’t think a member of a town committee should go to a town event on town property and say to town employees that one of their co-workers is a f**king b****,” said McArthur.

“I don’t think that is appropriate conduct for a member of the public, I certainly don’t think it’s appropriate conduct for a member of committee, and I certainly don’t think it’s a matter that council should be discussing behind closed doors.”

McArthur said this comes down to civility in the workplace and political discourse.

“I think we need to send a message to our workers, to our wives, to our daughters, and our sisters that we’re not going to tolerate this type of conduct in a workplace, anymore than we would tolerate this type of conduct on the street. And I think the best way is to deal with it publicly,” he said.

Deputy mayor Chris Gibb said the more this behaviour is allowed, the more likely it’s going to get worse.

“I want to go on record saying that this was wrong, it needs to be addressed. With all due respect to our clerk, his recommendation was to put a private letter to the individual... I certainly don’t think that goes far enough,” said Gibb.

Mayor Michael Prue said he doesn’t understand why someone would speak that way about a staff member.

“Women are particularly vulnerable in our society, and are particularly vulnerable when dealt with aggressively, using swearing and other words. I believe that the integrity commissioner was a best choice from the beginning,” said Prue.

Councillor Diane Pouget said this is a closed-door matter.

“If we had any trouble with anyone on committees, that was discussed in camera... we never aired our dirty laundry in public... we allowed people to have a say about it. This person doesn’t even know that this council is after them,” said Pouget.

Councillor Peter Courtney said there’s always three sides to every story.

“Out of respect, I’m trying to protect all individuals because sometimes we don’t need to air our dirty laundry out... even though they’re public figures, if it was public, there’s a time and a place to do that. If we can find resolve from within, in an informal way, to me that’s the best way because I think everybody’s got skeletons in their closet.”

Only two members of council, councillors Pouget and Courtney, were opposed to referring the issue to the integrity commissioner.

Principles Integrity was appointed to provide integrity commissioner services as of June 2024.

When asked why going to the integrity commissioner wasn’t recommended by administration, it was stated that the Code of Conduct speaks to two versions of complaint processes: One is an informal complaint process, one is a formal process. Typically, the informal process is used first to resolve a matter, unless there’s a need to escalate.