Mayor Publicly Speaks Out As Petition Received
Robert Thomas
With just under 875 signatures, an online petition designed to force Councillor Brian Swanson to resign did not get what it asked but it did provoke a strong reaction from the Mayor.
The petition, organized by local volunteer and activist Jody Chell, asked for Coun Swanson to resign from Council due to his role in the Downtown Facility and Field House (DFFH) Scandal.
The DFFH Scandal allegedly revolves around a former employee sexually harassing eight female staff members over a period of years. The DFFH Interim Board, consisting of Councillors Crystal Froese, Scott McMann and Brian Swanson is alleged to have improperly addressed the complaints. Coun Swanson also took home investigative files and then later turned them over to his lawyer.
Each of the three councilors was sanctioned based upon their degree of culpability following an initial investigation. They were sanctioned for breaching Bylaw 5530 – The Elected Members Code of Ethics Bylaw. The sanctions were decided by Mayor Frasier Tolmie, Councillor Dawn Luhning and Councillor Chris Warren in a "behind closed doors" independent investigation.
Before Chell presented the petition Councillor Heather Eby stood up on a personal point of order regarding her signing the online petition. Coun Eby’s online signature was originally listed on page two of the online petition.
“I did not sign that petition intentionally or unintentionally…and I have contacted Change.org to see which IP (Internet Protocol Address) that came from,” she said.
Speaking to a moderately full public gallery (which petition organizers online had hoped would be full) Chell presented the petition with just under 875 signatures on it.
In her presentation Chell told Council she was an Occupational Health and Safety consultant whose work had her investigating staff incidents which included injuries, harassment and violence claims.
“There is a very strong protocol I, and every other safety professional follow to make sure the names of the injured, the accused, or the victim remain confidential,” Chell said, adding that according to a third party investigative report “Councilor Swanson failed to protect the private information of the DFFH staff members, when he took it upon himself to remove confidential files including the originals and copies from the facility for a lengthy period of time, then hand them over to his personal lawyer, once the investigation was started.”
Chell said she became involved after she “noticed many people showing outrage on different social media platforms. Residents were appalled that City Council did not do more."
Chell said that after researching the City's bylaws she discovered Council could not do more. She said she decided to “create a non-binding petition to ask for Councillor Swanson to voluntarily do the right thing and resign from his seat as a representative of the Moose Jaw voters by October 15.”
It should be noted that under The Municipalities Act and The Cities Act councils cannot remove a member. Elected officials can only be removed for criminal actions, none of which have been alleged, reported or discovered in the DFFH investigation.
In the petition Chell wrote that by removing personnel files from Mosaic Place to his residence Councillor Swanson breached the Code of Ethics Bylaw and as such should step down. The petition quotes the Bylaw where Council members must comply with the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LAFOIPP).
Chell read out comments from those who signed the online petition and then gave Coun Swanson until the November 26th council meeting to resign.
After receiving and filing the petition in a unanimous 7-0 vote which allowed Chell to give her presentation, Mayor Tolmie addressed the issue.
The Mayor said he would “like to address two relevant items” involving Coun Swanson’s published statement published in the Moose Jaw Express.
Mayor Tolmie said “the statement was void of pertinent facts” in the area of DFFH staff participation.
“I’m sure employees would have felt uncomfortable” Mayor Tolmie said about the senior HR employee at the DFFH and another staff member Coun Swanson said in his statement had already removed the confidential files from an ex-employees desk drawer going on to later state “it is unfair to have them as an excuse for a decision.”
The Mayor referenced the Myers, Morris and Penny (MNP) Report commissioned into the operations of the DFFH during the previous Council’s tenure. In the publicly released portion of the August 31, 2016 report Human Resources was emphasized and the need for employee orientation in “applicable policies that the staff member will need to adhere to.”
Mayor Tolmie said the grave personnel issue demanded “extensive expertise not at the DFFH as was highlighted in the MNP Report.”
“There was no shortage of options or help to have dealt with this situation."
“What right did the chair have to show these files with his own personal lawyer or anyone else for that matter?” the Mayor asked.
Mayor Tolmie said “Council’s role, first and foremost” had been to protect the identities of the staff involved and to do the right thing.
“That is what the community expects and the community deserves.”
The Mayor, in his second point, addressed the petition, saying there were no political parties on Council and there was nothing more they can do.
“Council is elected by the Community and it is up to the Community to decide.”
In a short response Councillor Swanson replied there was “no breach of policy on my part.”
Coun Swanson also stated some were “jumping to conclusions” in what actually happened.
In the end the petition was Received and Filed, meaning no further action by Council is likely.