Oro-Medonte council voted Wednesday against reprimanding a member who was found by an integrity commissioner to have breached the township’s code of conduct — and then they fired the integrity commissioner.
After hours of heated discussion, council decided to not formally reprimand Ward 3 Coun. Cathy Keane, whose conduct was the subject of a three-month probe by the integrity commissioner, Principles Integrity.
The investigation stemmed from a formal complaint lodged Feb. 24 by the Horseshoe Valley Property Owners Association (HVPOA), which claimed Keane took part in and voted at the group’s Feb. 3 annual general meeting (AGM) “under cover of anonymity and without authority,” and that she obtained an unauthorized recording of the meeting to which she was not invited.
The HVPOA also took issue with a letter Keane sent to the group, saying it was “aggressive, accusatory and contained multiple false statements.”
The integrity commissioner had suggested council formally reprimand Keane because, in part, she “attempted to obfuscate and obstruct” the investigation.
While being questioned, Keane expressed concern about divulging the name of the “friend/acquaintance” who she said provided her with a link to the AGM and then a USB containing a recording of the meeting, citing privacy concerns.
Principles Integrity then issued a summons to have Keane testify under oath.
“Under oath, the councillor advised us that there never was a USB stick with a recording of the AGM, that there was no ‘friend/acquaintance’ who had provided it to her, and that her husband had recorded the AGM which she had viewed in the days that followed the meeting, on the family’s iPad,” the report stated.
The integrity commissioner’s report can be found here.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, Keane said she repeatedly asked Jeff Abrams, co-principal of Principles Integrity, “to speak to a lawyer” and asked Abrams if he could advise her as to whether she should obtain counsel, and he told her he could not provide that type of advice.
“At no point was Coun. Keane denied access to counsel. It’s simply untrue,” Abrams responded, adding Keane hired a lawyer between that meeting with him and the next one.
In a letter to Principles Integrity, Keane’s lawyer, H.G. Elston, took issue with the integrity commissioner’s investigation.
“While I am confident that, based on the particulars of the complaint and the findings in your Preliminary Findings Report, you will dismiss the complaint, I am concerned that, in your efforts to investigate the complaint and come to some conclusions, your focus has shifted away from the central issues — the unsanctioned attendance at the AGM and the tone and purpose of Councillor Keane’s letter to the HVPOA — to a new charge and incorrect findings about my client’s honesty and credibility,” Elston wrote.
He called for Keane to be “exonerated.”
Elston’s letterhead describes him not only as a barrister and solicitor, but also an integrity commissioner. While that is accurate, ”the letter is coming from her advocate, her lawyer, who represents Coun. Keane’s interest and none other,” Abrams said.
Coun. Randy Greenlaw asked Abrams if he would’ve recommended a reprimand had Keane not attempted to mislead or obstruct — charges she denies — and had only obtained a recording of the meeting and written an accusatory letter to the HVPOA.
“Had there been a more direct response at the outset, had there not been the dishonesty that we articulate in the report … it’s quite possible that the matter could have been resolved in another way,” Abrams responded, adding there might not have even been the need for a public report.
Greenlaw asked if Abrams knew of any training courses council might ask Keane to take to address concerns in the integrity commissioner’s report. Abrams couldn’t think of any courses that could provide information Keane isn’t already aware of.
“I think members understand what honesty is. We all learned how to engage with each other and be honest in kindergarten,” he said.
Coun. Ian Veitch noted a number of residents have said they want Keane to resign as a result of the report’s findings and asked if council had the power to make that happen.
Under the Municipal Act, Abrams explained, there are only two sanctions council can impose: a formal reprimand and a suspension of pay for up to 90 days. Council is within its right to ask Keane to resign, but that is not a “prudent course of action” in this matter, Abrams said.
He acknowledged some in the community view a reprimand as a “slap on the wrist,” but he didn’t agree, calling the move “a statement by the council that the behaviour that occurred … should not happen, is not supported by council (and) shouldn’t happen again.”
Publicly responding to the integrity commissioner’s findings for the first time, Keane argued the report “speaks of assumptions and probabilities.”
“I did not attempt to mislead and obstruct the investigation,” she said, adding she simply became “uncomfortable and nervous” when faced with personal questions and was concerned she might be in violation of the township’s code of conduct if she provided information about individuals.
She also claimed her letter to the HVPOA was not aggressive or threatening, but was meant “to ask for clarification.”
Former Ward 1 councillor Mel Coutanche, she noted, previously wrote to residents to “correct misinformation” circulated by the HVPOA, but the group didn’t file any complaints about that.
“Selective information has been included and excluded in this report,” Keane said.
She added: “Although this complaint was filed on behalf of the HVPOA members by the president, I do not believe the vast majority of residents support this complaint.”
Greenlaw asked Keane if she still felt viewing the AGM and writing the letter to the HVPOA was not “out of line.”
Mayor Harry Hughes told Greenlaw the report did not find those actions to be inappropriate.
Greenlaw asked again and Hughes answered again, saying Keane had already addressed the matter and said she felt she was doing her job.
“As a councillor,” Greenlaw persisted, “is it ethical to review material that has not been properly obtained?”
Hughes repeated the issue was addressed in the report.
“It appears to me that you still feel that you haven’t done anything that is in breach of the code of conduct,” Greenlaw told Keane. “She’s not willing to accept and acknowledge what is wrong, and that’s a concern to me if you don’t understand the difference between right and wrong.”
Hughes called Greenlaw’s comments “entirely improper.”
“You’re going to increase the temperature inappropriately in this meeting by trying to cross-examine something the integrity commissioner has already … given a report on,” the mayor said.
That’s when township CAO Robin Dunn chimed in, saying the question before council was whether to reprimand Keane as recommended in the integrity commissioner’s report.
“This is not the forum to reinvestigate the whole process,” Dunn said.
“It’s going sideways, sir,” he told Hughes.
Greenlaw was frustrated with a lack of an answer from Keane.
“I’m just trying to get clarity and you keep interrupting and not letting Coun. Keane answer the questions,” he told the mayor.
Greenlaw then noted there have been calls in the community for Keane to resign.
“Based on the evidence, I would understand and respect if she chose to do that. We must restore and ensure that this council follows our code of conduct to the letter and show the residents that we are worthy of their trust,” he said.
He called on Keane to admit guilt, publicly read an apology to the HVPOA at the next council meeting, take educational courses to address concerns laid out in the report, immediately terminate her councillor Facebook page for the remainder of the term and cover the “extent of incremental costs” of the integrity commissioner’s investigation.
“The reputation of this council is at a crossroads. We need to deal with this unfortunate issue in an appropriate manner,” he said.
Coun. Shawn Scott came to Keane’s defence. He introduced a three-page motion that called on council to exonerate Keane.
The motion stated there were “contradictory findings” from Principles Integrity and Keane’s lawyer. It also noted a “history of concerns with the HVPOA distributing false and misleading information,” citing a 2018 situation that occurred involving Coutanche when he was on council.
Scott also noted the HVPOA “breached confidentiality” by sharing information during the investigation despite being advised not to do so.
Veitch raised a point of order, calling Scott’s motion “totally inappropriate.” Hughes ruled against Veitch.
“What does 2018 have to do with what we’re discussing here?” Greenlaw asked.
Hughes told him to stop interrupting, and he issued the same warning to Veitch when the councillor spoke up again.
“I don’t want to hear any more interruptions or else we will be forced to mute you,” he told them during the virtual meeting.
Scott alleged the Principles Integrity report was biased, and he referred to it as “an opinion.”
Council voted 3-3 on Scott’s motion, so it was defeated. Scott, Hughes and Coun. Tammy DeSousa voted in favour. Greenlaw, Veitch and Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough voted against. Keane recused herself from voting on any motion relating to the integrity commissioner’s report.
DeSousa stood up for Keane, saying the HVPOA “willingly and knowingly breached the confidentiality of the process in an effort to create bias against the councillor” by contacting media.
She alleged both she and Keane received harassing messages from a member of the HVPOA executive and felt that might have been the motivation for Keane’s husband to watch the AGM.
As a result of the harassment, DeSousa, who was appointed to her council seat, said she would not run in the next election.
If the HVPOA’s goal was to make people want to leave public service so it could try to get someone it endorses elected, “all I can say is they have achieved at least some measure of success,” DeSousa said.
Veitch took issue with where the conversation was heading.
“It appears that you have put the HVPOA on trial here,” he said. “That’s a problem. Since when, in this country, do we put the complainant on trial without representation and without the opportunity to respond (to allegations)?”
He said the only way to “gel as a council” would be for Keane to acknowledge wrongdoing and vow to the public to uphold the code of conduct.
Veitch introduced an amendment to the main motion, which asked council to go further than simply reprimanding Keane. He asked that she pay all of her lawyer’s costs pertaining to this matter, that she provide a written apology to the HVPOA to be publicly read at the next council meeting and that, should another complaint against Keane arise that violates the code of conduct as determined by the integrity commissioner, council consider further sanctions, up to and including asking for her resignation.
That motion was defeated when only Greenlaw and Veitch voted in favour.
When it came time to deal with the decision of whether to reprimand Keane, Hughes said he wouldn’t support it.
“I believe that Coun. Keane has suffered greatly at the hands of her accused,” he said. “She has paid dearly.”
Hughes, DeSousa and Scott voted against reprimanding Keane, while Hough, Greenlaw and Veitch voted in favour. Another tie vote meant the motion was defeated.
After the vote, Greenlaw said to Hughes, “It seems apparent that maybe you think you should recuse yourself ...”
Hughes became visibly upset, calling Greenlaw’s comment “out of order” and saying he didn’t have the right to ask council members to recuse themselves from voting.
“If I felt I needed to recuse myself, I would do that,” he said, adding he did “not want to hear” Greenlaw’s reason for asking.
“Why not? Are you not open minded?” Greenlaw asked.
At the beginning of the meeting, during the open session, Peter Lavoie spoke on behalf of the Barrillia Park Ratepayers Association.
“In the eyes of the public, the conduct of one or more members of council is the conduct of council as a whole,” he said, referring to Keane’s actions as an “unparalleled breach of trust.”
Resident Tim Taylor spoke next, but not for long.
“The good people of Oro-Medonte deserve and demand better from all of you,” he said.
As soon as he asked Keane to resign “to save the township grief and disappointment,” his microphone was cut off.
Council cans integrity commissioner
After a brief break, council returned to deal with a motion crafted by DeSousa — that the township terminate its integrity commissioner agreement with Principles Integrity and that staff look at other integrity commissioner options and report to council.
“This could’ve been any of us and, in the future, it probably will be, and I would hope that, were that to happen again, we would be treated with more respect and fairness than what I have viewed in this report,” DeSousa said.
“The attack — and that’s what I call it — on Coun. Keane’s integrity by the integrity commissioner, by the comments that were contained in that report, I find them unacceptable and I cannot support anyone having to have their integrity questioned on that level and with that level of bias.”
Veitch defended Principles Integrity, saying its report was “very fair and very thorough.”
“I would not be willing to vote to remove them at this point. I think they’ve done a very good job for us for the past two-and-a-half, three years, almost.”
He and Greenlaw voted against DeSousa’s motion. Everyone else, including Keane, voted in favour.
“This has probably been … the most concerning meeting of council that I’ve ever been involved in, regrettably,” Hughes said.
His final words from the meeting: “Leave this meeting behind us and move forward … in a constructive way.”
