The Integrity Commissioner (IC) report recommended 15 days, but Grimsby’s mayor Jeff Jordan put forward a motion for 90 days–the maximum allowed by the Municipal Act.
IC Michael Maynard was in the Monday evening meeting via zoom to field questions about his report which concludes that the protests in Ottawa were an “illegal occupation” and that councillor Dave Sharpe’s participation by attending and livestreaming from Ottawa, over three weekends, constituted a breach of the Code of Conduct.
The 90 day time period was unexpected by councillor Sharpe who said “this was just brought to me right now” at the Monday meeting. He asked the mayor to calculate the dollar amount of a 90-day pay suspension. The answer given was $5312.
The meeting was attended by supporters of councillor Sharpe who repeatedly interrupted the meeting with applauses and the occasional jeers.
The conclusions of IC report were the subject of contentious debate. The IC was both applauded and jeered by the gallery attendees.
Going into the meeting, Sharpe said he expected three councillors to support him, and three to oppose (including the mayor), with one to be the swing vote.
Those in support of Sharpe directly confronted the IC Maynard on the conclusions of the report, specifically the characterization of the gatherings in Ottawa as an “illegal occupation”.
An ancillary issue of an email from a constituent that was published by Sharpe was also the subject of the IC investigation, however the IC did not make a conclusion in this matter.
The mayor’s motion contained a variety of whereas statements which exaggerated the findings of the Integrity Commissioner. Although there was some vigorous debate in council about the subject matter, none of these were statements were amended.
Multiple point-of-orders interrupted councillors’ statements on both sides of the debate to challenge the factual basis of various assertions, such as the incorrect characterizations of the conclusions of the IC.
A councillor claimed that Sharpe had “lied to the Integrity Commissioner” and that releasing the constituents email was “ruled as an act of reprisal”, both statements were clarified by Maynard and were incorrect.
Sharpe said the 90 day suspension of remuneration as “vindictive”. After nearly an hour of back-and-forth on various topics, a councillor asked for a friendly amendment to reduce the 90 days being asked by the mayor down to 15 days, as recommended by the IC.
The final vote was 4-3 in favor of the 15 suspension of remunerations of councillor Sharpe.
Clips
“Point of order: the councillor is suggesting I lied to the integrity commissioner”
Disproportionate response from Mayor Jordan
Mayor Jordan was asking for a 90 day suspension of remuneration. Maynard made no effort to put the time period of 15 days into perspective, instead only saying it is a mere recommendation and council is self-governing.
On the matter of proportionality, IC Maynard’s report — with a recommendation of 15 days — was mentioned the same evening by a different and more experienced Integrity Commissioner, John Mascarin. That evening in West Lincoln, Mascarin made reference to the Grimsby report:
“There was a finding of contravention of a council member who did not lead a convoy, but he participated in an unlawful protest in the city and there was a very similar finding with a very similar penalty”, said John Mascarin.
In the West Lincoln case, councillor Harold Jonker was a convoy leader and among the first trucks into Ottawa. The recommendation by the Integrity Commissioner was 30 days — one-third what Mayor Jordan demanded out of Dave Sharpe.
"There was one just last week, Grimsby council… There was a finding of contravention of a council member who did not lead a convoy, but he participated in an unlawful protest in the city and there was a very similar finding with a very similar penalty." – John Mascarin pic.twitter.com/dH45sMVFOz
— Sandor 💬 (@WTFNiagara) July 21, 2022
See also: 🚨 Integrity Commissioner declares Ottawa protests “unlawful event” and recommends a 15-day-pay-freeze on Grimsby councillor who “attended, supported and encouraged an illegal occupation” (Opinion, July 6, 2022)
External Links:
Grimsby councillor to go 15 days without pay for social media posts at ‘freedom’ convoy in Ottawa (Niagara This Week, July 19, 2022)
