It’s IC 2.0, as the Township saves another month of Mayoral stipend.
Integrity Commissioner Tony Flemming appeared virtually at McNab-Braeside Council Tuesday (September 3rd) to indicate that Mayor Mark MacKenzie may have fallen prey to some repetitive behavioural patterns which fall outside the parametres of the municipal code of conduct.
The latest incident(s) date back to a February 2024 in-camera session, and can’t be fully explained while still respecting the confidentiality that a behind-closed-doors meeting requires.
There are three aspects to the current case- the first of which is that, by speaking to a matter that occurred in-camera, MacKenzie himself is also guilty thereof.
Essentially the IC upholds the premise that by speaking against an identified individual, his actions impugn the employee’s integrity.
Flemming believes it was not within his own power to rule on whether a lawsuit threatened by MacKenzie against his Deputy Mayor (and we understand, the Township itself) was vexatious or frivilous.
And lastly, the IC maintains that MacKenzie’s continuing assertions of financial mismanagement on the part of staff are without factual basis.
The circumstances are redacted, and, although Flemming both quotes and paraphrases some of what transpired, his pay grade is greater than our attempts at reporting.
The September 3rd Council session was chaired by Deputy Mayor Lori Hoddinott, and included a request that correspondence from the absent Mayor be added to the meeting’s agenda- but this was rejected.
Separately, Mackenzie circulated what he maintains is an email reflecting his wishes that were denied by Council- although these pieces of correspondence are not one and the same.
According to the Mayor, he had sought to postponed discussion on the IC report until such time as he could return from a second honeymoon celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary.
MacKenzie queries some aspects of the IC process which he would have preferred to see clarified by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, but the window for discussion precluded putting the matter off.
The Tuesday session was not without Mayoral defenders.
During Agenda item 15, (Public Questions and Comments), a Mr. Paul Wideman attempted to read certain assertions into the record, but Councillor Scott Brum insisted these be answered on the spot.
Wideman attempted to justify calls for a forensic audit of Township accounts over a 5 year-period (as also demanded by the Mayor) by linking the Township’s Auditor with the Ma-te-way fiasco in Renfrew and the on-going Provincial investigation into accounting practices at Renfrew Victoria Hospital, but this avenue of inquiry was ruled inappropriate by meeting Chair, Lori Hoddinott.
The Mayor, in his outreach to media, indicates he will be happy to address any issues arising from yesterday’s discussions upon his return on September 12th.
By Rick Stow